How to Use Stash

Getting Started

Stash lives in your menu bar and appears when you need it. Here's how to get started:

0. Grant Accessibility Permission (Required)

Important: Stash requires Accessibility permission for enhanced features like global hotkeys and app switching. The app will guide you through granting this permission.

Manual Setup: If you prefer to set it up manually:

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
2. Click the + button or drag Stash from Finder into the list
3. Make sure the checkbox next to Stash is enabled
4. You may need to restart Stash after granting permission

1. Show the Panel

• Move your cursor to the right edge of your screen
• Or double-tap the global hotkey ⌥⌥ to access edge screen clipboard (requires accessibility permission)
• The Stash panel will slide in from the right

2. Add Items

• Drag & Drop: Drag files, images, or text from any app into Stash
• Clipboard: Copy something (⌘C) then double-tap ⌥⌥ to capture it (requires accessibility permission)

3. Use Quick Actions

Hover over any item to see available actions:

• OCR: Extract text from images (document icon) - shows loading indicator while processing
• Transcribe: Convert audio/video speech to text (waveform icon) - processing indicator displayed
• Background Removal: Remove backgrounds from photos (scissors icon) - visual progress feedback
• Resize: Quickly resize images (resize icon) - loading state while processing
• Share: Export or share items (share icon)

Enhanced User Experience: All processing actions now show loading indicators and disable buttons to prevent multiple executions while processing.

Common Workflows

Screenshot → OCR → Text

1. Take a screenshot of text (⌘⇧4)
2. Open Stash (double-tap ⌥⌥ - requires accessibility permission)
3. Click the OCR button on the screenshot (loading indicator will show)
4. Copy the extracted text when processing completes

Photo → Background Removal → Export

1. Drag a photo into Stash
2. Click the background removal button
3. Right-click the result and export

Batch Processing

Pro Feature: Process multiple items at once with powerful automation tools.

1. Select multiple items (⌘-click to multi-select)
2. Click the "Batch" button in the header
3. Choose your processing action:
   • Process for Web: Resize and optimize images for web use
   • Resize Images: Batch resize to specific dimensions
   • Convert Format: Convert images to different formats
   • Rename Files: Batch rename with patterns
   • Compress Images: Reduce file sizes
   • Move to Folder: Organize files into folders
4. Configure parameters and start processing

Keyboard Shortcuts:

• ⌘+A - Select all items
• ⌘+click - Multi-select items
• Escape - Clear selection
• Delete - Remove selected items

Pro Features

Upgrade to Pro to unlock:

• Unlimited Items: Store as many items as you need
• Multiple Shelves: Organize items into custom categories
• Advanced Actions: All processing features without limits
• Custom Workflows: Create your own batch processing rules

Keyboard Shortcuts

• ⌥⌥ (double-tap): Show Stash panel and access edge screen clipboard (requires accessibility permission)
• ⌘N: Create new shelf (Pro)
• ⌘Delete: Delete selected items
• Space: Quick preview
• ⌘A: Select all items
• ⌘+click: Multi-select items

Tips & Tricks

• Items are automatically organized by type and date
• Right-click items for more options and export formats
• Use shelves to organize projects or workflows
• Double-tap ⌥⌥ for quick access to edge screen clipboard functionality
• Watch for loading indicators during processing - buttons are disabled to prevent double-execution
• Grant accessibility permission for global hotkeys and enhanced app switching (optional)
• Stash works completely offline - your data stays on your Mac
• The panel auto-hides when you click outside it