How can we help?

Most answers are below. If you're stuck, emailletsgo@helloreadysetgo.com with your macOS version and what you were doing — we'll get back to you.

Getting started

  1. Open Caps from its menu bar icon — the corner brackets around an asterisk — or press ⌃⌥C. A full-height sidebar slides in from the right edge of your screen. You can change the shortcut in Settings → General → Shortcuts.
  2. Choose the folder where your screenshots are saved. To check the location, press ⇧⌘5 and look under Options → Save to.
  3. Take a screenshot the usual way, like ⇧⌘4. It appears in Caps right away.
  4. Click a Cap to copy it or drag it into another app; Caps tucks itself away afterward. Right-click for more, and use the controls at the bottom to search or open the menu. Press esc or click elsewhere to close Caps.

Keyboard shortcuts

  • ⌃⌥COpen Caps from anywhere — or pick your own
  • ↑↓Move through your Caps
  • ↩Copy the selected Cap
  • SpacePreview it full size
  • ⌘FSearch by filename
  • escLeave search, then close Caps
  • ⌘NOpen the macOS Screenshot toolbar
  • ⌘,Open Settings

Choosing a folder

Caps asks you to choose a screenshot folder on first launch. Selecting a folder in the macOS picker gives Caps permission to read and manage images there, and Caps remembers that permission when you restart it. To change folders, open Settings with ⌘, and choose your folder under General. Changing this setting does not change where macOS saves screenshots.

Screenshots aren't showing up

  • Check that Caps is watching the same folder your screenshots are saved to (Settings shows the current folder).
  • Press ⌘⇧5 and look under Options → Save to, to see where macOS saves screenshots.
  • If Caps asks you to choose the folder again, select it in the folder picker to restore access.
  • If you used Clear Caps, choose Restore Cleared Caps in Settings → General.
  • Check the retention setting — older Caps may be hidden, but they're still in the folder.

Backgrounds and padding

In Settings → Appearance, choose one of six backgrounds or select your own image. Smart padding adds space around each screenshot based on its size. Turn it off to set the padding yourself. Caps creates a separate image with this appearance when you copy, drag, or share; the screenshot in your folder stays unchanged.

Choose Original to turn backgrounds off. For a single screenshot, right-click it and chooseCopy Original. Annotation Copy Cap uses your selected background;Save a Copy saves the annotations without a background, so a frame is not added twice.

Auto-copy and keeping the list tidy

Auto-copy is optional and off by default. Enable it to put each new screenshot on your clipboard using your selected appearance. Clear Caps and the retention setting only hide items in the list; they do not delete files. Pinned Caps stay visible. To remove a file, right-click it and choose Delete Cap, which moves it to the macOS Trash.

Common questions

Does Caps upload my screenshots?
Caps has no account, cloud sync, or analytics, and never uploads screenshots to us. It works with a folder you choose on your Mac. Copying, dragging, or sharing sends a Cap only to the app or destination you choose.

Will it move, rename, or delete my files?
Not on its own. Your screenshots stay in their original folder. Clear Caps and the retention setting only hide Caps from the list — both can be undone. Renaming happens only when you ask, and Delete Cap moves the file to the macOS Trash so you can still recover it.

Which folder does it watch?
You choose your screenshot folder when you first open Caps. Use the same folder selected under Options → Save to in the macOS Screenshot toolbar (⇧⌘5). Caps remembers your permission, and you can choose a different folder in Settings.

Do I have to change how I take screenshots?
No. Keep using ⇧⌘4, ⇧⌘5, or any tool that saves to your screenshot folder. New Caps appear automatically. ⌘N inside Caps opens the macOS Screenshot toolbar if you want it.

How do backgrounds work?
Choose one of six backgrounds or your own image in Settings → Appearance. Copying, dragging, and sharing then use a separate PNG with that background, rounded corners, and padding. Smart padding adjusts to each screenshot, or you can set it yourself. Choose Original to turn the background off, or right-click a Cap and choose Copy Original for a single unframed copy. Your source file stays unchanged.

Does annotating change the original?
No. Arrows, boxes, drawing, and text are saved to a new full-resolution PNG with Save a Copy — or copied straight to your clipboard. The original Cap is left exactly as it was.

What do I need to run it?
A Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 14 Sonoma or later.