Download
Give your Mac a memory.
Save something.
Forget where it went.
Find it again.
Shelf V3 for macOS. Free, no account, and nothing to configure before it is useful.
01 · This build
What you're downloading.
Why the short form
Download asks for your name, email and what you do, then hands you the file. It is how we know who is using early builds and reach you when something important changes. The app itself still has no account and sends us nothing.
02 · Then what
The first five minutes.
- Open itUnpack the download and move Shelf to your Applications folder.
- Allow what you wantmacOS asks for screen recording, accessibility and speech recognition. Refuse any of them and the rest still works.
- Keep one thingA screenshot, a link, a PDF, or a paragraph you copied.
- Come back laterSearch for what it was about rather than what it was called.
03 · Before you install
The things worth knowing.
- Published checksumNot currently supported
No SHA-256 is published for this build yet, so we are not asking you to verify one.
- In-app updatesNot currently supported
Shelf does not ping for updates. New builds come from this page.
- Your libraryWorks on your Mac
Stored on your Mac, in Shelf's own folder.
- External AIOptional external service
One image feature, off by default, with your own key.
Stated plainly
Current limitations
- Early software
- Shelf is still evolving. Keep your own backups of anything you cannot afford to lose.
- One Mac at a time
- There is no sync. Moving to another Mac means an export or a backup.
Keep something. See what comes back.
Give your Mac a memory.
Free, macOS 14 and later, no account.
Free. macOS 14 and later, Apple Silicon and Intel. No account.
Keep reading
Related pages
Shelf V3 is out now
Shelf V3 is the current build. Shelf does not use automatic updates, so download the latest build here and install it over your current version.
This is intentional. Shelf is built around a local-first, privacy-focused philosophy. An automatic updater requires additional background processes, network connections, update infrastructure, and another system with permission to modify the app. We prefer to keep Shelf’s network footprint and background activity as small as possible.
Manual updates keep the process explicit: Shelf only checks the internet when a feature actually needs it, and you decide when a new version is downloaded and installed.