Last month, one of the best productivity apps for Mac finally became available for Windows. That’s Raycast, which is like a keyboard-controlled Swiss Army Knife for your computer. Open Raycast with a keyboard shortcut (Alt + Space by default on Windows and Option + Space on a Mac) to quickly look up files, launch apps, search the web, and more… all from a single text box.
While Apple’s Spotlight feature provides similar utility on Macs, Raycast is more powerful and flexible—and it now works on Windows PCs as well. Most of its functionality is free, with an optional subscription for syncing data across devices and using certain AI features.
Raycast can be a bit daunting at first, but it can feel like a superpower once you get rolling with it. To give you an idea of how useful it can be, here are some ways I’m using it myself.
This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday.
Instant calculations and unit conversions
Jared Newman / Foundry
Raycast’s built-in calculator might be the one feature I use more than anything else. Without ever taking my hands off the keyboard, I can open Raycast, type in an expression, and see the result immediately, with the Enter key even copying the answer to the clipboard. It’s so much faster than reaching for a separate calculator app.
Finding files (and folders) faster
Jared Newman / Foundry
My file system is pretty organized, but opening a specific file or folder through Raycast is still faster than digging through File Explorer. Where Raycast really shines is its “Quicklinks” feature that makes your favorite files or folders even easier to access.
Once you’ve saved a Quicklink, you can pin it to Raycast’s main menu, which lets you open it with a custom keyboard shortcut or just find it more easily in Raycast’s search results. I’ve pinned my Downloads and work images folders so they’re never more than a few keystrokes away.
An expanded clipboard
Jared Newman / Foundry
While macOS Tahoe now includes a clipboard history feature, Raycast’s version is better. You can open it instantly with a custom keyboard shortcut—no need to hit Command + Space first—and can optionally paste as plain text. Raycast’s clipboard history is also searchable, and it offers a nice view of copied images. I’ve started using it in place of the built-in clipboard manager in Windows as well.
Clipboard history is a good way to get familiar with Raycast’s “Hotkeys,” which let you take actions without even opening the main Raycast window. (I’ve mapped Raycast’s clipboard manager to Ctrl + V on macOS and Windows key + V on Windows.)
Quick text snippets
Jared Newman / Foundry
Raycast’s “Snippets” tool lets you turn small text fragments into larger blocks of text, which cuts down on repetitive typing. For instance:
- I can type
@advto write “[email protected]” - I can type
@adrto write my mailing address. - To swat away PR pitches, I can type
!gopa, which then prompts me for the PR rep’s name and writes “Hi [name], thanks for reaching out. Gonna pass on this one. Thanks — Jared.”
You can set all this up through Raycast’s easy “Create Snippet” menu, where the Snippet is what you want to write and the Keyword is what you type to trigger the snippet conversion.
I’ve previously sung the praises of a free Windows app called Beeftext for this purpose, but it’s no longer being actively maintained and there’s no Mac version. Besides, Raycast’s implementation is easily searchable in case I forget the shortcut for a particular snippet.
Window management
Jared Newman / Foundry
After switching to an ultrawide monitor, I’m often moving my windows into and out of split-screen mode. Raycast makes that easier by letting you resize windows with keyboard commands. For instance, I can move Obsidian into the middle of the screen to focus on writing, or split it 33.3%/66.6% with my web browser while researching.
This is also a good way to get acquainted with Raycast’s “Command Aliases” feature, which lets you execute commands with less typing. I’ve set it up so that typing LT into Raycast moves an app to the left third of the screen while typing RTT moves an app to the right two thirds.
Checking my calendar
Jared Newman / Foundry
Seeing what’s coming up on my calendar always takes more clicking and typing than I want. Thankfully, Raycast offers a Google Calendar extension for quickly viewing your upcoming agenda.
This is one of the many third-party extensions that you can install to make Raycast even more useful. Just type “Store” into Raycast and you’ll be able to peruse all kinds of free enhancements. The one I’m using for my calendar is simply called “Google Calendar.”
Whether you use Raycast or not, this category of “command bar” apps is one you should be aware of, as it’s an increasing area of interest for tech companies. Apple has beefed up Spotlight in macOS Tahoe to compete more directly with Raycast, and Microsoft is building something similar with Command Palette in its free PowerToys app. ChatGPT’s Mac app and Google’s new Windows app use the same command bar concept with an emphasis on AI, too.
With the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, I think folks are warming to the idea of asking their computer to do things instead of constantly clicking around manually. Once you get used to doing that with Raycast, it’s hard to imagine using your computer without it.
This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday.
