Shelf
Auto-captures clipboard copies, screenshots, files, links, and text. Summon a floating glass shelf at your cursor with a shake, or use the menu-bar popover.
Built for focus. Designed for Mac.
The temporary workspace your Mac deserves.
A free menu-bar app that auto-captures your clipboard, summons a shelf at your cursor, turns screenshots into text, and previews your windows — without the clutter.
- Privacy-first
- Native performance
- No subscription
- One-time download
Your day. Organized beautifully.
FlowShelf auto-captures copies, screenshots, files, links, and OCR'd text into one Shelf — filtered by Today, Pinned, Shots, Files, Links, and Text — so you can focus, act, and clean up with ease.
- ✓Items auto-expire after 24h — pin anything to keep it
- ✓Summon a floating shelf at your cursor with a shake
- ✓Private mode pauses clipboard capture on demand
Capture
Region screenshots with ⌘⇧7, or capture-then-OCR with ⌘⇧O to send extracted text straight to your Shelf and clipboard.
Peek
Live window thumbnails on Dock hover, plus an Option+Tab switcher that grows from a 2×2 to a 4×4 grid of previews.
Clean
An app cleaner that scans for leftover files — caches, prefs, and support data — with confidence levels and sizes.
Easy installation.
Drag, drop, and you're good to go.
FlowShelf
Applications
- 1Open the download
Double-click the
.dmgfile. - 2Drag to Applications
Install FlowShelf like any native Mac app.
- 3Launch & Go
FlowShelf is ready. No setup. No signup.
First launch (self-signed, not yet notarized): System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ scroll down ▸ Open Anyway (one time). After that, FlowShelf updates itself automatically with Sparkle, and your permissions carry over.
Privacy First
Your data stays on your Mac.
Native Performance
Built with Swift, ~4 MB, light on memory.
Apple Silicon + Intel
All modern Macs.
No Subscription
One-time, yours forever.
Built in the open.
FlowShelf's source is public. Read every line, verify the privacy claims for yourself, and open a pull request — no black boxes, no hidden network calls.
Loved by people who hate clutter.
Real reviews from FlowShelf users — no account needed to read or leave one.
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Reclaim your Mac's clutter.
Free, native, and yours forever. macOS 12+ · Apple Silicon & Intel.
Download for macOSOne-time download · No subscriptionQuestions & answers
Everything you need before your first launch.
Is FlowShelf really free?
Yes. FlowShelf is free and open source, with no subscription and no account required. Download it once and it's yours.
Can FlowShelf turn a screenshot into text (OCR)?
Yes. Press ⌘⇧O to select any region of your screen and FlowShelf extracts the text straight to your Shelf and clipboard. Press ⌘⇧7 for a plain region screenshot.
What is the floating shake-to-summon shelf?
Shake your cursor (or use a global hotkey) and a floating glass shelf appears right at your pointer, so you can drop and grab items without leaving what you're doing. You can also use the menu-bar popover or the dashboard.
Does FlowShelf have a private mode?
Yes. Private mode pauses clipboard capture whenever you want, so sensitive copies never land on your Shelf.
How do updates work, and why do my permissions persist?
FlowShelf checks for updates daily and installs them with Sparkle, the standard macOS auto-updater. Because it's self-signed with a stable certificate, your Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions carry over across updates.
macOS says the app "can't be opened" or is from an unidentified developer.
FlowShelf is self-signed and not yet notarized, so on first launch open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway. You only need to do this once.
Where is my data stored?
Everything stays on your Mac. FlowShelf has no servers and no tracking — your clipboard, screenshots, files, links, and text never leave your device.
How does auto-delete work?
Shelf items expire automatically after 24 hours to keep today's workspace light. Pin anything you want to keep, or clear items manually whenever you like.
Which Macs are supported?
macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, as a universal binary for both Apple Silicon and Intel.
How is FlowShelf different from Yoink, Dropover, or a clipboard manager?
FlowShelf combines a drag-and-drop shelf, automatic clipboard capture, screenshot OCR, and live window previews in one private menu-bar app — and it auto-cleans daily so it never becomes clutter. It's free and open source.