--- title: Relic on a Mac | Relic Help description: Relic on a Mac: the disk image and the move to Applications, the menu bar, the Accessibility permission that lets it paste for you, and the keys a Mac uses. canonical: https://relic.space/help/macos source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- Platforms # Relic on a Mac Relic on a Mac: the disk image and the move to Applications, the menu bar, the Accessibility permission that lets it paste for you, and the keys a Mac uses. Updated 10 September 2026 · Mac ## [Installing from the disk image](#install) Relic comes as a disk image. Open it and drag Relic into your Applications folder, then open it from there. That second step is the one people miss, and it matters: a Mac throws away anything you run straight from a disk image, settings and all. The [install page](https://relic.space/help/install) has the download. If you open Relic without moving it first, it says so and offers to move itself. The screen is headed **Relic runs from your Applications folder**, with **Install and reopen** and **Quit** under it. Install and reopen copies Relic across, reopens from the new spot and picks up where you left off, and you can eject the disk image after that. If your Mac refuses the copy, the screen changes to **Drag Relic across yourself** and opens your Applications folder in the Finder so you can drag it over by hand. ## [Where Relic lives](#menu-bar) Relic has no Dock icon and no window of its own. It lives in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the icon for the menu, or press Ctrl \+ Shift \+ Q from any app to open the window. * Open history * Pause capture * For 10 minutes * For 1 hour * Until I resume it * Sync: connected * Check for updates… * Quit Relic It can start when you sign in, and it comes up quietly in the menu bar rather than opening a window. If you would rather not see the icon at all, turn it off and use the shortcut alone. Launch Relic at login Start capturing the moment you sign in. Settings › General › Launch Relic at login: toggle, default on. Show icon in menu bar Hide it to run purely from the hotkey. Settings › General › Show icon in menu bar: toggle, default on. The [window tour](https://relic.space/help/the-popup) walks through the window itself and every line of that menu. ## [Letting Relic paste for you](#accessibility) macOS asks permission before any app can press keys for you. Relic uses that permission for two things: pasting the item you pick straight into the app you were just in, and grabbing whatever you have selected when you press the save and annotate shortcut. Everything else works without it. Picking an item still copies it, you just press ⌘V yourself. Let Relic paste for you macOS asks permission before any app can press keys for you. Relic uses it to paste the item you pick straight into the app you were just in, and to grab your selection when you press the save and annotate hotkey. Settings › General › Accessibility › Let Relic paste for you: button: Allow Relic to paste. The row sits in Settings›General›Accessibility and says where you stand: **Allowed**, or **Not allowed yet**. **Allow Relic to paste** asks macOS for it. Once you have given it, that button becomes **Open Accessibility settings**, and **Re-check** beside it looks again, which is what you want after changing the switch in System Settings. The first time Relic wants to paste and cannot, it tells you once: Copied, press ⌘V to paste Relic needs Accessibility access to paste for you. Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. ## [The keys on a Mac keyboard](#the-keys) Relic's global shortcuts use the **Control** key, not Command. The window is Ctrl \+ Shift \+ Q, the same chord as on every other computer. Command is not an option for these: Cmd+Shift+Q is how a Mac logs you out. * On the keycaps Relic draws, the keys read **Ctrl**, **Option** and **Cmd**. * Inside the Relic window it is the ordinary Mac modifier: Cmd+F jumps back to the search box, Cmd+A selects every result, Cmd+Z undoes a delete. The [shortcuts page](https://relic.space/help/shortcuts) lists every one of them, with the Mac spelling beside the Windows one. ## [Password managers and secrets](#passwords-and-secrets) When a password manager copies something it marks the copy as private so clipboard tools leave it alone. Relic honours that mark, so those copies never enter your history. If an app you use does not set it, add the app to [Settings › Capture › Never capture from](https://relic.space/help/settings-capture#blocklist) and Relic skips it by name. The key to your vault and your sign-in token live in your Keychain, guarded by your Mac account. They are never written into the data folder as plain text. ## [Updates](#updates) Relic checks for a new version two minutes after it starts and then once a day, and tells you with a notification. Clicking it downloads the new disk image, checks it is the file we published, swaps Relic in your Applications folder and reopens. You can also check yourself in Settings›About, and [Updating Relic](https://relic.space/help/updates) covers the rest. ## [Your data folder](#folders) Your vault, its search index and the copies of images and files Relic has downloaded live in `~/Library/Application Support/relic`. The button that opens it is in Settings›Vault and storage. Data folder Where this computer keeps your vault and its search index. Settings › Vault and storage › Data folder: button: Open. Moving to another Mac Your vault syncs, so a new Mac only needs the app, your account and your passphrase. Copying that folder by hand is not the way to move. Related [Install RelicGet started](https://relic.space/help/install)[Keyboard shortcutsShortcuts](https://relic.space/help/shortcuts)[The Relic windowGet started](https://relic.space/help/the-popup)[Settings: GeneralSettings reference](https://relic.space/help/settings-general)