A private shelf for Mac
A shelf for what you copy. A little selfish about keeping the useful context, too.
On the Mac App Store. No subscription.
iPhone coming soon.
The shelf
Text, photos, links, tables, code. A place for the things you’ll want back.
Search the lot. Pin the keepers. Let the rest quietly expire.
More than the bit you copied
Connect a supported app on Mac, then copy as usual. Shelf-ish can save where your selection came from and useful detail around it—so a small clip still makes sense later.
See what comes along with your copy.
£260,000
One cell from a spreadsheet. You selected the number, without its row or column labels.
£260,000
You can see that £260,000 is the North region’s Q4 forecast, and which workbook it came from. A number, with a fighting chance of being useful.
10:30
A time from an Obsidian note. Very precise. Until you forget where you’re meant to be.
10:30
It’s 10:30 at Gospel Oak for the Hampstead Heath walk. You have the plan around the time, plus a way back to the original note.
SE1 9TG
A postcode from a webpage. Handy for directions. Less handy when you’ve forgotten the destination.
You know it’s Tate Modern’s postcode, and can reopen the visitor page for the rest of the details. One less mystery in your clipboard.
Illustrative examples. You choose which sources add context and whether to include nearby text. Extra details, including Excel labels, depend on what the source provides. Your original copy and formatting stay intact.
Put it back to work
Less hunting through yesterday’s tabs. More getting on with today.
Search your shelf, press Space to peek, then paste the original or plain text.
Give frequently used text a keyword. Your best polite follow-up, on tap.
Send a clip or selection to Reminders when it needs a nudge. Requires access.
Extract text from pictures, or record an audio note with a transcript.
Connectors
Connect a source once, then copy as usual. You choose which sources—and how much context—come along.
Keep a page’s title, original link and optional surrounding passage.
Set up Safari
Keep webpage details with the text you copy. Requires Shelf-ish 1.2 or later for Mac.
Get the Chrome extension Set up ChromeGive copied cells their workbook, sheet, range and available labels.
Set up ExcelKeep a passage connected to its note and neighbouring text.
Set up Obsidian
Save selected code with its file, line range and useful surrounding detail.
Set up VS CodeA little more on the way
SlackComing soon...Word and PowerPoint are planned. Slack is being explored as public-channel discussion lookup; a search match is not proof of a copied message’s source.
Optional Apple Intelligence
Summarise a long clip, pull out action items or get a second opinion on code. Shelf-ish’s language tools use Apple’s on-device model.
How your content stays privateBook the train. Charge the camera. Ignore the laundry until it becomes an art installation.
Book the train and charge the camera for the weekend.
Requires a supported Mac, Apple Intelligence enabled, downloaded models and a supported language and region. Ordinary capture and paste work without it.
A few useful answers
Safari, Chrome, Excel, Obsidian and VS Code context are out now for Mac. Chrome requires Shelf-ish 1.2 or later and the separate Chrome Web Store extension. Slack is coming soon. See the connector setup guides.
No. Context capture is tied to eligible copies from sources you enable, with the required permissions. Optional surrounding text is bounded. You can pause capture or disable a source.
No. Save, search, pin and paste without it. Optional language tools need a compatible Mac with Apple Intelligence enabled and its models ready.
The Mac app is available now. iPhone is coming soon. The Duo, Watch and Vision Pro artwork previews wider-platform work; it does not mean every version is available to download yet.
No subscription. The Mac App Store listing has the current price, requirements and release details.
For the bits you’ll be glad you kept.
Get Shelf-ish for Mac On the Mac App Store. No subscription.