HOWTO: Remove Duplicate Contextual Alfred Menu Items

by Steven B. Combs, Ph.D.

Ever right-click on a file to choose an application to use and find multiple duplicate entries for an app (as shown in the image below)? This is a common issue for those of us who update or demo software regularly. I become a bit frustrated with it so I created this Alfred workflow to correct the issue.

This Alfred Workflow (PowerPack required) will remove those pesky duplicates quickly. The workflow simply makes it quick and easy to access a terminal shell script (see bottom of post) using Alfred. Here’s how to install the workflow.

Download:

Click the image below to download the Alfred workflow:

Install:

• Locate the download
• Double-click the Remove Duplicate Contextual Menu Items.alfredworkflow – Alfred 2 will automatically install the workflow

Usage:

• Activate Alfred
• type rdcmi
• Select Remove Duplicate Contextual Menu Items from the Alfred menu - Finder will restart and an audio acknowledgement will complete the process
• Right-click a file to verify that the duplicates are removed

It was a simple process to create the workflow once the Alfred developers provided the secret sauce via a tweet to help me through a “I should have thought of that” moment.

@stevencombs simply use the “Run Script” action instead of “Terminal Command” :) — Alfred App @alfredapp) March 23, 2013

Resources:

GitHub Repository

Remove Duplicate Contextual Menu Items

Shell Script

#!/bin/sh
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/
./lsregister -kill -domain local -domain system -domain user
killall Finder && open /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app
say Duplicate Contextual Menus Removed