MacOS – Easiest way to repeat MANY mouse clicks

automatorgoogle-chromemacosmouse

Problem

I imported a large OPML file to a Feedly (a RSS/source aggregator web service), and the import got messed up. I now need to delete the entries on their website using Google Chrome, but there is no way to bulk delete.

Instead of manually clicking almost a thousand times, I'd like to quickly automate a Left-Mouse Click and loop it for as many times.

The reason I'm stating my specific use-case is because I am unlikely to ever use this particular automation again. I need a quick and dirty solution.

Question

What is indeed the fastest and easiest way to record and repeatedly perform a mouse-automation tasks, in macOS Sierra?

Solutions

I took a stab at macOS Automator's Watch Me Do but really didn't get it to work with Chrome as it seems to interpret Left-Mouse clicks as "Drag the scroll thumb in the scroll area" (??)1.

I also investigated some third-party options like Keyboard Maestro and Murgaa (not endorsing any of these, nor have I tried them), as well as some scripting alternatives like CliClick but I must admit that learning how to script with these utilities feels a bit cumbersome right now.

I'm preferably looking for a reliable, and free, Mouse/Click Automator circa 2017 with a GUI. Is there something like that which is recommendable? Or should I tinker more with Automator or something else?

1I've added Automator to the macOS Accessibility settings.

Best Answer

I know you already rejected CliClick, but what if the script was provided for you? It’s actually quite simple. In Script Editor enter the following:

tell application "Google Chrome"
    activate
    repeat 500 times
        do shell script "/Users/<you>/Desktop/cliclick c:" & "1694,18"
        delay 1.5
    end repeat
end tell

Replace 1694,18 with the actual coordinates of the button you want to click. Those can be obtained by pressing ⇧ shift ⌘ cmd 4 and hovering your cursor over the button.

Also replace <you> with your account name, and adjust the delay as appropriate, to account for any animation or form postback.

Obviously this is all assuming the click occurs in the same spot each time. Your question doesn’t specify, although I get the sense that that is the case. Otherwise it would be very hard to script as a repeating click.

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