--- title: The Relic window | Relic Help description: A tour of the window you open with Ctrl+Shift+Q: the search box, the All and Vault scopes, sorting, the item rows, the sync chip, and the tray menu. canonical: https://relic.space/help/the-popup source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- Get started # The Relic window A tour of the window you open with Ctrl+Shift+Q: the search box, the All and Vault scopes, sorting, the item rows, the sync chip, and the tray menu. Updated 10 September 2026 · Windows, Mac, Linux ## [Opening the window](#open-it) Relic lives in the tray (the menu bar on a Mac). Press Ctrl \+ Shift \+ Q from any app and the window opens with the search box ready. Press it again, or press Esc, and it closes. Clicking the tray icon opens it too. The first time Relic hides itself it tells you where it went: Relic is still running. It lives in your tray. Press Ctrl + Shift + Q to open it anytime. You can change that shortcut, or any other, in [Settings › General](https://relic.space/help/settings-general#hotkey-history). The [shortcuts page](https://relic.space/help/shortcuts) lists all of them. ## [What is in the window](#anatomy) The Relic window. Across the top: the Relic wordmark, a Synced chip, then a gold plus button, a tags button, a pin, a settings gear and a close button. Below that, a search box that reads Search relics with a question mark and an Esc pill at its right. Below that, an All and Vault switch on the left and date and sort buttons on the right. Then the list of items, newest first. The window with three items in it. The second row is selected, so its actions are showing. From the top down: * **The header.** The wordmark, the [sync chip](#sync-chip), then five buttons: the gold **plus** writes a new item by hand, **#** opens your tags, the **pin** keeps the window open while you work in another app, the **gear** opens Settings, and **×** closes. * **The search box.** Start typing and the list filters as you go. The **?** pill opens a cheatsheet of search words and keys. Press Esc to clear the search, then again to close. * **The control row.** **All** or **Vault** picks what you are looking through, the calendar filters by date, and the sort button cycles through Best, Newest and Oldest. * **The list.** One row per item, newest first. It loads more on its own as you scroll, and a line at the bottom says how many of your items are loaded so far. Before you have copied anything, the list says so: The empty state: an inbox icon, the words Nothing here yet, the line Copy anything (text, an image, a file) and it lands here automatically, and a pill that reads Or drop files to keep them. ## [An item row](#rows) Every row has a tile on the left that shows what kind of thing it is (text, an image, a file, a link, or a masked secret), a title, and a line underneath in small type that says which device it came from, how long ago, and its tags. A gold gem at the right means the item is in your Vault. A hidden secret shows dots instead of its text and an eye to reveal it. Hover a row (or select it with the arrow keys) and its actions appear at the right: delete, keep, open or view, then a gold copy button. Double-click a row to open it for editing. Right-click for the menu. Press Enter to copy the selected row and, if [Paste directly on select](https://relic.space/help/settings-general#paste-on-select) is on, paste it into the app you came from. The small line under the title can also tell you what Relic is doing with the item: _Analyzing…_ The models on your device are reading it to name and tag it. _Syncing…_ It is on its way to your other devices. _Uploading 40%_ A large file is going up. _Not synced_ The server refused it. Click the sync chip to see why and retry. ## [All, Vault, and sorting](#scope-and-sort) **All** shows everything Relic has captured, including things it will eventually let go of on the free plan. **Vault** shows only the items you have kept on purpose, which never expire. Searching works the same in both. The All and Vault switch, with Vault selected. The sort button cycles between **Best** (the closest matches first, then the newest), **Newest** and **Oldest**. You can also just type the word _newest_ or _oldest_ at the end of a search. When some of your items belong to a group Relic recognises (links, code, screenshots, receipts, addresses and so on) a row of chips appears under the search box with a count on each. Tap one to see just those. ## [The sync chip](#sync-chip) The small chip next to the wordmark says where your vault stands with your other devices: **Synced** Everything is up to date. Hover it to see when. **Syncing…** A sync is running now. **Uploading 40%** A file is being sent. The number moves as it goes. **2 pending** Items are waiting to go up, usually because you are offline. **Offline** No connection. Relic keeps working; sync catches up when you are back. **2 not synced** The server turned some items away. Click to see each reason and retry. Clicking the chip runs a sync right away when all is well, and opens the list of refused items when it is not. ## [Banners you may see](#banners) A strip above the list appears when Relic needs to tell you something. Each one has a button that deals with it. Four banners, each a short sentence with a button at its right: You are browsing locally, Sign in to save and sync everywhere, with a Sign in button. Capture paused for 8 min, with Resume. You were signed out, Sign in again to resume syncing, with Sign in. Confirm your email to start syncing, with Resend email. * **Browsing locally.** You have not signed in. Everything works on this computer; nothing syncs. * **Capture paused.** You paused capture from the tray menu. Press Resume, or wait for a timed pause to end. * **Signed out.** Your session ended, often because you removed a device. Your vault is still on this computer. * **Confirm your email.** New accounts sync once the confirmation link has been opened. * **Items from a previous account.** After switching accounts, items that belong to the other account are tucked away. Press Review to decide what to do with them. ## [The tray menu](#tray) Right-click the tray icon (on a Mac, click the menu bar icon) for the menu. It is the one place you can always reach without opening the window. * Open history * Pause capture * For 10 minutes * For 1 hour * Until I resume it * Sync: connected * Check for updates… * Quit Relic * **Open history** does the same as the shortcut. * **Pause capture** stops Relic recording what you copy, for 10 minutes, for an hour, or until you come back. A banner in the window shows the pause, and a timed pause ends on its own. A restart always comes up capturing. * **Paste stack** lines appear only while the stack has something queued. * **Sync: connected** or **Connect to sync…** opens the sync settings. * **Check for updates…** looks for a new version. When one is ready it becomes **Install update**. * **Quit Relic** stops capture until you open the app again. If you would rather not see the icon at all, turn off [Settings › General › Show icon in menu bar](https://relic.space/help/settings-general#tray-icon) and use the shortcut alone. ## [Changing the size](#popup-size) The window opens at a set size. Pick one in Settings›General›Popup size: Mini shows just the last few items, Small is the default, Standard gives the list the most room. Popup size How tall the history popup opens. Mini shows just the last few items. Settings › General › Popup size: choice of Mini, Small, Standard; default Small. Show icon in menu bar Hide it to run purely from the hotkey. Settings › General › Show icon in menu bar: toggle, default on. Related [Install RelicGet started](https://relic.space/help/install)[Your first runGet started](https://relic.space/help/first-run)[How Relic worksGet started](https://relic.space/help/the-basics)