Find and open: Library guide

Open anything

Bookmarks, apps, folders, and terminal commands open from the menu bar, a keyboard shortcut, or Spotlight. To open an item the other way, hold Option while you click it.

• Bookmarks open in a new tab or a new window.
• Apps come to the front. To start a new copy, add a launch argument, such as --profile work.
• Terminal commands run in a login shell in a new Terminal window. Add only commands you trust.
• Folders open as submenus. Choose Open All in a folder to open its bookmarks and apps, one after another. Library skips dividers, terminal commands, templates, and apps that are no longer installed. It asks first when more than five items would open.

Quick Open

Quick Open is a search box that floats over your screen. It searches your library, your clipboard history, and your snippets, and it runs the result you choose.

Open Quick Open

1. Press Control-Space. This is the default shortcut.
2. Type to search. The search field has the keyboard as soon as Quick Open opens.
3. Press Return, or click a row, to run it. Quick Open closes.

Press the same shortcut again to close Quick Open without choosing anything. Quick Open also opens with the library://search address.

Quick Open appears centered on the screen under the pointer. It stays in place while you type. It appears over full-screen apps and on every Space.

To change the shortcut, go to Settings > Shortcuts and change Show Quick Open. If the shortcut conflicts, see Conflicts. If it does, pick another key combination.

Search

Quick Open splits your text into words. Each word must match something about the item, and every word must match for the item to appear.

Library items and snippets are scored for each word:

An item's score is the sum of its word scores. Higher scores come first. Items with the same score are ordered by how often you have opened them, most first. Items you have not opened keep their order in the library.

Keywords, the item's color, and the folder name are all searched. Typing red finds items you gave the red color.

What appears with an empty search

With the search field empty, Quick Open shows, in order:

1. Suggested: the link or app on the clipboard, or a link selected in the app in front, when it is not in your library yet. See Add a suggested link or app.
2. Frequently Used: up to five items you have opened at least twice.
3. The whole library, in the same order as the Library menu.
4. Clipboard: the five first clipboard items. Pinned items come first.

What appears with a search

With text in the search field, results appear in these groups, each with its own heading:

• Top Hit: the first result. Return runs it.
• Library: matching items.
• Clipboard: up to eight matching clipboard items, pinned items first, then newest first.
• Snippets: matching snippets.
• Suggestions: a web address you typed, or a suggested link or app.

Clipboard matches must contain every word, ignoring case. They are not ranked by score.

Web addresses

If the search text is a web address, Quick Open adds two rows:

• Open followed by the host, for example Open example.com.
• Add "example.com" to Library.

A web address has no spaces. It is either a full address with ://, or a host name with a dot and a top-level domain of at least two letters, such as example.com/path. localhost is not treated as a web address.

Add a suggested link or app

When the clipboard holds a web link or an application that is not in your library, Quick Open offers to add it. It is listed under Suggested with an empty search. It is also listed when the search is at least two characters long and is part of the words "add to library", such as ad or to li.

A link selected in the app in front is used first, if Quick Open can read it. Choosing the suggestion adds it to the library. If the page can be read, Library names the new bookmark from its title when Name new bookmarks from their pages is on.

Search only one app's copies

Type from and the name of an app to see only the clipboard items you copied while that app was in front. For example, from Safari shows Safari copies. Add words after the app name to search those copies, such as from Safari invoice.

The name must match an app that appears in your clipboard history, ignoring case. When two apps match, the longer name wins. When the search starts with from <app>, the library is not searched.

Keyboard

The pointer also works. Moving the pointer over a row selects it, once the pointer has moved. Clicking a row runs it. Right-clicking shows the same actions as Tab.

Option-Return

For a library item that can open two ways, Option-Return does the opposite of the item's usual setting:

• A web bookmark opens in a new tab, or in a new window.
• An app is brought forward, or a new instance is started.

The labels in the actions list name the two ways. For clipboard items and snippets, Option-Return does the same as Return.

Option-click does not change how a row opens in Quick Open. Use Option-Return.

Space

Space previews the selected clipboard item in Quick Look. Press Space again, or Escape, to close the preview.

Space types a space when the selected row is not a clipboard item, or when the clipboard item has nothing to preview. This is true even with an empty search.

Actions

Press Tab, or right-click a row, to see its actions. The actions depend on the row.

Library item (a bookmark, app, command, or folder item):

• Open, and the other way to open the item, where it applies.
• Copy Link, for a bookmark.
• Copy Clean Link, for a bookmark. It removes tracking parameters such as utm_source, fbclid, and gclid. The saved link is not changed.
• Copy as Markdown Link, for a bookmark. Not offered for templates.
• Copy Command, for a terminal command.
• Copy Path and Show in Finder, for an app.
• Add to Reading List, or Mark as Read, Mark as Unread, and Remove from Reading List, for a bookmark in the Reading List.

Clipboard item: see Clipboard. The actions include Copy or Paste, Copy as Plain Text, Copy as, Quick Look, Pin or Unpin, Add to Paste Queue, Add to Library, and Delete.

Typed web address: Copy Clean Link.

Snippet: Copy and Edit.

Choosing an action runs it and closes Quick Open. Choosing Copy as… or another submenu lists its choices in place of the actions.

Preview

The right side of Quick Open shows the selected row in full. It is 280 points wide.

• Clipboard text: the first 4,000 characters, selectable, with the source app, time, and size.
• Picture: the picture. A GIF plays.
• Files: each file's name and icon.
• Other copies: the number of formats.
• Library item: its name, icon, and link, command, or path. Its folder appears under it.
• Snippet: its name and the first 4,000 characters of its text.
• Locked pinned item: the words Pinned Item, and a Show Pinned Item button. See Clipboard.

Clicking into the preview does not close Quick Open.

Settings that change Quick Open

Keywords, colors, and notes on an item also affect what Quick Open shows. Notes appear under the item's name in the list.

Limits

• Clipboard matches in a search: eight.
• Clipboard items with an empty search: five.
• Frequently Used: five items, each opened at least twice.
• Text in a clipboard item is searched up to its first 100,000 characters.
• The preview shows the first 4,000 characters of text.
• Each row is 42 points tall. The list shows about seven or eight rows at once and scrolls for the rest.

What it stores and whether it syncs

Quick Open stores nothing of its own. It reads the library, clipboard history, snippets, and open counts. Where each one is kept, and whether it syncs, is in Storage and sync.

Notes

• Quick Open closes when another app comes to the front, when the Spotlight search opens, or when you click elsewhere. It stays open while the Quick Look preview has the keyboard, and while the Touch ID or password prompt is up.
• A row can be dragged into another app. A clipboard image, file, link, or text is dropped as that type, and Quick Open closes after the drop.

The Library menu

Click the Library icon in the menu bar to open the menu. To open it at the pointer, press the Show Library Menu shortcut. Settings > Shortcuts > Library menu opens decides where it appears.

• Update Available. Appears at the top when a newer version exists. Choose it to see the update options. See Stay up to date.
• Your items. Bookmarks, apps, terminal commands, folders, and dividers, in the order you set in Edit Library. Folders open as submenus.
• Frequently Used. Up to five items you have opened at least twice, most opened first.
• Reading List. Your bookmarks in the Reading List. Unread bookmarks show first.
• Clipboard. Your latest copies. Choose one to copy it again. When the history is empty, it says No Clipboard History. Clear History removes the unpinned history.
• Paste Queue. Appears when the queue has items. Paste Next pastes the next one, and Clear Queue empties it.
• Lock Pinned Items. Appears only when the Touch ID or password lock is on. It is dimmed while the pinned items are already locked.
• Edit Library…, Settings…, Open at Login, Check for Updates…, About Library, and Quit Library.

A folder with nothing in it shows Empty. Open All opens the bookmarks and apps in the folder, including those in its subfolders, one after another. It is dimmed when none of them can be opened.

Keyboard shortcuts

Library has two kinds of shortcut:

• Global shortcuts work in every app. They open the Library menu, Quick Open, the clipboard menu, and the link you copied last.
• Item shortcuts open one bookmark, application, or terminal command from anywhere. You set them in Get Info.

Both kinds can be a key combination, a modified click, a scroll, a pinch, a swipe, or a hot corner.

Default shortcuts

Item shortcuts have no defaults. Each item starts with none.

The Settings page lists the four global shortcuts under those names. Open Copied Link opens the web link you copied last. If the clipboard has no link, Library beeps.

Other keys in the app:

Quick Open and the clipboard menu have more keys, such as ⌘1 through ⌘9 and the number keys in the clipboard menu. Those are covered in their own pages.

An item's key combination shows in the Library menu next to that item when the key is a single character, such as a letter or a digit. Keys such as Space or F1 are not shown there, but they still work.

Defaults on first launch

The first time a version with these defaults runs, the Library menu and Quick Open get their defaults if they have none, and the clipboard menu gets Control-Command-V. After that first run, clearing a shortcut sticks.

Change or clear a global shortcut

1. Open Settings > Shortcuts.
2. Click the shortcut field. It reads Record Shortcut and then Press a shortcut…, with an outline around it.
3. Press the keys you want. The shortcut is saved as soon as you press it.

To cancel without changing anything, press Escape or click anywhere else.

To clear a shortcut, click the … button next to the field and choose Clear. The … menu also sets a hot corner. Clear is available only in Settings.

To go back to the defaults, choose Restore Defaults. It sets the Library menu, Quick Open, and the clipboard menu back to their defaults. It does not change Open Copied Link.

Library menu opens sets where the Library menu appears:

• At the Pointer (the default): the menu opens where the pointer is.
• From the Menu Bar: the menu opens from the menu bar icon.

What you can record

Key names in the recorder are shown as symbols or words for Space, Return (↩), Tab (⇥), the arrow keys, and F1 through F12. Other keys show the letter or digit they type.

Escape cancels recording when no modifier is held. Clicking somewhere else cancels recording.

Those shortcuts also need Accessibility access; see Accessibility. If you record one without it, Library asks you to turn it on. See Accessibility.

Shortcuts on an item

Set item shortcuts in Get Info, in the Shortcuts section. The section appears for bookmarks, applications, and terminal commands. It does not appear for folders or dividers.

1. Select the item and press ⌘I.
2. Choose Add Shortcut. A new row starts recording.
3. Press the keys, click with a modifier, scroll, pinch, swipe, or choose a hot corner from the … menu.
4. Repeat to add more shortcuts. An item can have several.
5. Choose the minus button to remove a shortcut.

For a bookmark or an application, each shortcut has its own Opens In setting:

• Bookmarks: New Tab or New Window.
• Applications: Bring Forward or New Instance.

Pressing a shortcut opens the item. A shortcut for a terminal command runs the command in Terminal. See Terminal commands run without a confirmation.

Shortcuts on an item are saved with the item. They sync with the rest of your library when Keep Library in iCloud Drive is on. Global shortcuts are saved on this Mac only.

Conflicts

A shortcut can be in use by macOS or by another app. Library cannot always tell.

• Key combinations: if the system refuses a key combination, Library shows an orange warning triangle with the tooltip In use by another app. You see it next to the global shortcut in Settings > Shortcuts, and in the Shortcut column in Edit Library next to the item.
• Control-Space can conflict with the macOS input source shortcut. The Settings page says so.
• Modified clicks, scrolls, pinches, swipes, and hot corners are not checked against other apps. If another app uses the same gesture, the result depends on which app gets the event first.
• Library does not check for two of its own shortcuts that use the same keys before it registers them. If the system refuses the second one, it is flagged the same way as any other conflict.

To fix a conflict, record a different combination.

Hot corners

A hot corner runs a shortcut when the pointer reaches a corner of a screen.

1. In a shortcut field, open the … menu.
2. Choose Hot Corner, then one of Top Left Corner, Top Right Corner, Bottom Left Corner, or Bottom Right Corner.

A hot corner fires when the pointer reaches a spot within about two points of the corner, and only when no modifier key is held. It fires again only after the pointer has moved about 40 points away from the corner. Hot corners need no permission.

Accessibility

Click, scroll, pinch, and swipe shortcuts need Accessibility access. Key combinations and hot corners do not.

To turn it on, open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility and allow Library. Library also shows a Grant Access… button in Get Info and an Allow… button in Settings when access is missing.

Until access is granted, those shortcuts do nothing. Library checks again every few seconds and starts them when access arrives.

When Library handles a click, scroll, pinch, or swipe shortcut, it takes the event. The app under the pointer does not receive it. Button shortcuts run when the button is released, so a menu does not close under a held button.

Scroll shortcuts run once per scroll gesture. A pinch runs once it passes a small threshold. A swipe runs once per swipe.

Terminal commands run without a confirmation

By default, a terminal command runs in a new Terminal window as soon as its shortcut is pressed, when it is opened from Spotlight, or when it opens at login. Library does not ask first.

To ask first, turn on Confirm Terminal Commands in Settings > General. Library then shows the command and waits. Cancel is the default button, so pressing Return cancels.

The URL scheme never runs a command. The Shortcuts app asks first.

Storage and sync

Global shortcuts stay on this Mac. Item shortcuts are saved with the item. Where each kind of data is kept is in Storage and sync.

Limits and defaults

• Four hot corners, each set from the … menu.
• Restore Defaults does not change item shortcuts or Open Copied Link.
• Escape cancels a recording only when no modifier key is held.