Raycast: a launcher that replaces half a dozen apps on the Mac

One shortcut, hiding almost everything you'd ever need to open, calculate, or switch to on a Mac. Raycast is a free replacement for the built-in Spotlight that outdoes it at everything it does — and on top of that, it keeps absorbing tools you'd otherwise need separate apps for: clipboard history, window management, a calculator, text snippets.

A typical scenario

Over the course of a day you need to quickly launch an app, switch your monitor's window layout, calculate a simple expression, and paste a frequently used text snippet (say, your email signature). Without Raycast, that means reaching for Spotlight to launch, a separate calculator, a window-management tool, and a text file with saved phrases you copy from — four different tools for four small tasks. With Raycast, you open one window with one shortcut, and whatever you need from that list, you type a few letters and it's done, with no switching between apps.

How to do it

1. Download Raycast from the official site (raycast.com), and on first launch set its shortcut to Cmd + Space — the built-in Spotlight normally claims that combination, so you'll need to free it up in system settings first before Raycast can take it over.
2. Out of the box, Raycast handles: launching installed apps by typing their name, a simple calculator right in the command bar, clipboard history (similar to the Windows built-in feature), and basic window management and rearranging on screen.
3. Extend it with extensions for the specific tools you use — the extension catalog includes connections to Jira, GitHub, translators, and dozens of other services, so you can control those through the same single shortcut too.
4. Save frequent phrases and text snippets (signatures, replies, codes) as "snippets" and insert them with a shortcut or keyword, without copying from another file.
5. The interface stays consistent across every function — you open Raycast with the same shortcut whether you want to launch an app, calculate an expression, or find an older clipboard entry.

The best tools

• Raycast — free at its core, the most complete Spotlight replacement on macOS, with an open extension catalog.
• Alfred — an older, well-established alternative with similar functionality, strong in advanced workflows, paid for extended features.
• The built-in Spotlight — enough on its own for basic app launching without installing anything, but it lacks clipboard history, snippets, and extensions.

What you get out of it

• Time: roughly 10 minutes a day saved by handling a range of small tasks (calculations, pasting text, launching apps) without leaving the keyboard or switching between tools.
• Fewer open apps at once: one tool replaces a calculator, a clipboard manager, and part of what File Explorer does.
• Faster access to work tools: extensions for Jira, GitHub, and similar services shorten common tasks to a few letters instead of opening a website.

Pro tip

Turn on extensions gradually, not all at once — start with two or three you'll genuinely use daily (say, a GitHub link or task management), and expand the catalog only when you hit a recurring task worth speeding up.