Shelf

Shelf requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later (1.1 and earlier ran on macOS 13). It's a menu-bar-only app, so there's no Dock icon or main window — look for the three stacked chevrons at the top-right of your screen.

Drag a file, image, or text onto the menu-bar icon or into the open shelf; drag toward the top of the screen and drop on the “Drop to Shelve” target; copy something and press the shelf hotkey; choose Services › Send to Shelf in almost any app; use the Shelf actions in the Shortcuts app; or let screenshots be captured automatically. Click the icon any time to open the shelf.

⌃⌥⌘S (Control-Option-Command-S) shelves whatever is currently on your clipboard. Copy first, then press it. If the clipboard has nothing Shelf can hold, it just beeps.

Shelf is a temporary staging area: unpinned items are removed automatically after your chosen retention window (1–30 days; 7 by default), or sooner if an expiry rule applies. Items that look like a password, key, or card number are kept for an hour. The ring around each item's preview drains as its time runs out. To keep an item, choose Keep (the pin) — that stops its clock until you unpin it. Click an item's time left to give it its own time instead. If you just removed something by mistake, click Undo in the note at the bottom of the shelf (it stays for about five seconds) or press ⌘Z. Don't use Shelf for long-term storage.

Open the shelf and drag the item straight into wherever it needs to go — an email, a chat message, a Finder folder, or an upload field. It carries the real file. You can also Copy it back to the clipboard or Reveal in Finder.

Yes, when auto-shelf is on. If your Mac saves screenshots to the clipboard, Shelf catches them there and leaves them on the clipboard so you can still paste. If your Mac saves screenshots as files, choose that folder once in Settings › Capture › Screenshot folder (or during the welcome steps); Shelf then moves each new screenshot from that folder onto the shelf and names it from the text it contains. Shelf only reads the folder you pick.

Every item on the shelf is a real file under ~/Library/Application Support/Shelf/, alongside a small manifest.json. Because they're real files, drag-out and Reveal in Finder work normally, and if the app ever misbehaves your items are still sitting right there.

No. Shelf has no account, no server, no network connection, no ads, and no analytics. Nothing you shelf ever leaves your Mac. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Yes. Open Settings (⌘, or the gear) › Privacy and add apps under “Don’t auto-capture from” — a password manager, your bank, anything. While one of them is the frontmost app, Shelf won’t auto-shelve anything from it. Copies a password manager marks as concealed are always skipped, and copied text that looks like a card number or secret key is kept for only an hour and shown hidden. You can still drag items in or use the hotkey deliberately.

Open Settings (⌘, or the gear in the shelf). On the General tab, set “Keep items for” (1–30 days) and add Expiry rules — for example, screenshots after a day, or anything from Slack after 8 hours. Lowering a limit asks before removing anything already past it. The same window has the item cap, sort order, compact rows, capture options, hotkeys, and your purchase.

Open the shelf and start typing — search matches names and, for images, the text Shelf read from them on your Mac. Use ↑/↓ to move, Space to preview, ⌘C to copy, and Delete to remove. You can also filter by type, switch to a grid, or group related items into a stack (select two or more with ⌘-click, then choose Stack) so they expire and drag out together.

Yes. Drag the open shelf away from the menu bar and it becomes a small floating window that stays put until you close it. Clicking anywhere else closes the regular shelf.

Shelf is a one-time $7.99 purchase — not a subscription. It comes with a 10-day free trial, and the whole app works during the trial. When the trial ends, a single unlock keeps it going forever. The App Store shows the current price before you buy.

Every feature is available for 10 days, free, with no payment required. There's nothing to cancel — the trial simply ends. After it, you can unlock Shelf with the one-time purchase to keep using it. Your shelved items stay safe on your Mac either way.

On a new Mac or after reinstalling, open Settings › Purchase and choose Restore while signed in to the same Apple Account you bought with. Your unlock is tied to that Apple Account.