Windows first
Open windows always lead the list when they match, so switching stays one keystroke away. Results arrive in sections while you type.
Docktopus for macOS · New
Search
Windows, apps, clips, files, mail, settings, and Ask AI from one hotkey, in a Find dialog that matches your theme.
Three distinct themes. Light and dark presets. Free to try, one purchase to keep.
Search
Type a few letters. Press Return.
Press ⌥ + Space anywhere and start typing. Docktopus searches open windows, apps, clipboard history, Remembrance captures, files, Mail, calendar events, settings, and more at the same time, puts the best match first, and acts on it when you press Return: switch to the window, paste the clip, open the file or message, join the meeting, or jump to the pane.
Prefixes narrow the search
Type a source’s prefix and a space, such as w for windows, f for files, c for clipboard history, or > for commands. A chip in the field shows the active source.
Quick Look and actions
Space or ⌘Y previews the selected file, message, app, image, or capture without closing the palette. ⌘↩ or → opens a short action menu over the row.
Three Find dialogs
One palette. Dressed for your theme.
The palette follows the dock: a Liquid Glass panel, a CDE Find dialog, or a Windows 95 Find: Files or Folders window, including its action menu and Quick Look controls. The mockup below follows the theme switcher in the header and types sample queries on a loop.
The palette follows your theme. Switch it above.Animated mockup
Animated mockups with sample data. The real palette searches your Mac on device; only Ask AI and web search leave it, and only when you choose them.
Sources
What it finds.
Every source can be turned off in Settings → Search. The ones that need access to other apps start off and ask for the permission they need when you enable them.
Windows and browser tabs
Every open window by title and app, and the tabs in Safari, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Chromium, Arc, and Orion. Return switches to the window or tab; the action menu can also close or minimize a window or hide its app.
Apps and Docktopus commands
Installed apps by name or acronym, plus the app’s own actions: switch workspaces, apply theme or display presets, toggle Coffee, Dynamic Island, or Focus Blur, start and stop Time Spent timers, and paste pinned clips. Commands share the trial and licence rules of Shortcuts and links.
Clipboard and Remembrance
Clipboard history including text recognized in copied images, and Remembrance captures by the text that was on screen. Both stay hidden during a privacy pause, and Remembrance is searched only while capture is on. Explore the clipboard manager.
Files and Mail
Files and Mail messages come from the Spotlight index, streamed as they are found. Limit file search to names or to your home folder. Matches inside system folders, app bundles, hidden folders, and build folders such as node_modules rank below the same match elsewhere.
Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Notes
Upcoming events with a Join action, contacts by name or email with open, copy, new email, FaceTime, and Message actions, open reminders you can mark complete, and note titles.
Settings, tweaks, and System Settings
Docktopus settings panes, macOS Tweaks, and System Settings panes, so “bluetooth” or “screen recording” jumps straight to the right place.
Dev servers
Local servers found by the Dev Servers widget: open the URL, copy the port, show the folder in Finder, or stop the server.
Spotlight extras
Arithmetic such as 12 * (3 + 4) or sqrt(16), unit conversions such as 5 km in mi or 72 f to c, dictionary definitions for a single word, opening a typed domain, and a web search fallback with your choice of engine.
Recents and learned ranking
An empty field lists what you used recently. Choices you make teach the ranking, which stays on this Mac and can be turned off in settings.
Ask AI
Ask a question. Keep the conversation. Let it act.
Every query also gets an “Ask …” row. Return streams the answer into the palette; Return again copies it, and ⌘↩ opens it in a window. The conversation lasts until the palette closes, so a follow-up is just the next thing you type.
Three providers, your choice
Apple Intelligence on device on macOS 26, or Claude and OpenAI with your own API key stored in the login Keychain. The model names are editable. Claude uses Anthropic’s server-side fallback, so a declined question is retried on another Claude model within the same request.
Attach context only when you say so
⌥1 to ⌥4, or the chips in the answer, attach the clipboard, the selection in the front app, the active window title, or the latest Remembrance screen text to the next question. Nothing is attached unless you turn it on, and the Ask row shows what is.
Actions, step by step
With “Let the assistant run actions” on, requests such as “switch to my work setup and turn on coffee for an hour” run Docktopus commands, open apps, files, URLs, and System Settings panes, or switch windows and tabs. Every step is listed in the answer as it runs. Works with all three providers.
Replace Spotlight
Keep Option-Space, or take over ⌘Space.
Settings → Search explains the one step macOS requires, turning off Spotlight’s ⌘Space shortcut in Keyboard Shortcuts, opens that pane for you, shows whether the shortcut is still on, and binds the palette to ⌘Space with one click. Any other modifier and key pair works too.
Keyboard reference
Open and act
⌥ + Space opens the palette. Return runs the primary action of the selected result, ⌘↩ the alternate one such as copying a clip without pasting or revealing a file in Finder. ⌘1 to ⌘9 pick a result by number.
Move around
↑ and ↓ move the selection, Tab jumps between sections, → opens the action menu, Space after an arrow key or ⌘Y shows Quick Look, and Esc closes the preview, the menu, or the palette.
Ask AI
Return on the Ask row sends the question and, after an answer, sends the follow-up you typed or copies the answer when the field is empty. ⌘↩ opens the transcript in a window. ⌥1 to ⌥4 toggle attachments. Esc returns to the results with your original search.
Settings, privacy, and sync
Choose what is searched
Turn sources on and off, change or clear each source’s prefix, pick 3, 5, 8, or 12 results per section, limit file search to names or the home folder, and choose the web search engine.
Stays on your Mac
Searching runs on device. Only Ask AI sends your typed question, and any context you attached, to the provider you chose; only web search opens the engine you picked. Browser Tabs, Contacts, Reminders, and Notes start off and ask for access when enabled.
Part of your configuration
Sources, prefixes, results per source, file scope, web engine, Ask AI provider and models, and the hotkey are included in configuration export, import, and sync. API keys and learned ranking stay on each Mac.