Gather
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Help & getting started

Find your way
around Gather.

A few useful details, from your first capture to your next update.

Your first few minutes.

  1. Install Gather. Download the signed app, open the DMG, and drag it into Applications. Gather needs an Apple silicon Mac and macOS 26 or later.
  2. Sign in to Gather. Continue with Apple, or create an account with your email and enter the verification code in Gather. Your library stays on your Mac and remains available offline after signing in.
  3. Save something. Use ⇧⌘Space for Quick Capture. Add a link, a thought, an image, or a file, then choose a collection and save.
  4. Give it a home. Open the library from the menu bar. Create collections and folders, or use Inbox until you’re ready to organize.
  5. Find it again. Enable Recall in Settings → Search & Recall, then use ⇧⌘R. Your five most recently added items appear before you type. Search across collections and open, copy, or drag a result into your work. All shortcuts are customizable.

Closing the library window keeps capture available in the menu bar. Choose Quit Gather to stop it.

Keep your clipboard within reach.

Gather Clipboard is off by default. Select Clipboard above Collections in the sidebar and choose Turn On, or enable it in Settings → Gather Clipboard. From then on, supported copies are kept in a separate local history.

  1. Copy normally. Text, links, images, and file references appear in history. Use Pause when you want recording to stop temporarily.
  2. Open quick access. Press ⇧⌘V, or the shortcut you choose in Settings → Gather Clipboard. Search or use the type filters to find a clip.
  3. Use a clip again. Choose it to copy, then return to your app and press ⌘V. Plain text removes formatting. Pin useful clips, or use Save to Collection to make one part of your library.

Choose retention, capacity, and excluded apps in Settings → Gather Clipboard. If macOS blocks clipboard access, Gather shows guidance for enabling the relevant permission in System Settings. History records supported copies after it is enabled; it cannot recover things copied earlier.

Recall searches items you have saved to collections. Gather Clipboard searches your recent copy history. Read about clipboard privacy.

Updating Gather.

In a signed release, choose Gather → Check for Updates…. Automatic update checks can be enabled in Settings.

When an existing library is found after signing in, choose whether to associate it with this account or start with an empty library. Gather keeps a recoverable backup before association. Nothing is uploaded. Use Settings → Files & Storage → Show Library Folder to find the active account’s library.

Moving from an unsigned preview

  1. Quit Gather and back up your complete library folder, including its Vault directory. Find the location in Settings before quitting. Keep your vault password separately; Gather cannot recover it.
  2. Install the signed app in Applications. On its first sandboxed launch, macOS can move the library from the earlier preview into Gather’s app container.
  3. If Gather opens with an empty library, quit it and preserve both the original folder and the container copy. An existing container can prevent automatic migration. Check which copy contains your current items before moving data.
Library locations and manual migration

Earlier preview library:

~/Library/Application Support/Gather

Signed app library:

~/Library/Containers/app.gather.mac/Data/Library/Application Support/Gather

With Gather closed, back up both complete library folders and the existing preferences. If the original is the current library, copy that complete folder into the signed app’s library location after preserving the existing destination. Keep the existing container preferences. Reopen Gather and verify your items and attachments.

Do not delete the app container to trigger migration or merge the two databases. If both copies contain changes you need, preserve both before proceeding.

A little help with the thinking.

After signing in to Gather, capture, organization, and keyword search work offline. AI features use Apple’s on-device models by default, when available. Image understanding requires the supported macOS 27 models; macOS 26 retains text recognition.

You can optionally connect ChatGPT where eligible, or use an OpenAI API key. Cloud chat requires permission for each collection. Automatic cloud processing has a separate setting. Chat and briefs work with saved material and prepared image descriptions; saving a link does not save the full article behind it.

How your data is handled

A few details

Everyday questions.

Is Gather free?

Yes. Gather is free for now. Future pricing may change. Any charges from optional cloud AI providers are separate.

Do I need a Gather account?

Yes. Sign in with Apple, or create an account with your email and verify it in Gather. Your library and Clipboard history stay on your Mac. After signing in, local capture, organization, and search work offline. Account password recovery does not reset your local credential-vault password.

What can I save in Gather?

Links, copied text, screenshots, images, local files, PDFs, and notes. Markdown files can become editable notes, with a switch between formatted and source views. Use the checklist toolbar button or Markdown task lists to add tasks and click to check them off. Collections and nested folders keep related things together.

Does Gather keep clipboard history?

Only when you turn on Gather Clipboard. It starts off and keeps supported copies in a separate history on your Mac. Search with your chosen shortcut, pin useful clips, copy plain text, or save a clip to a collection. You can pause recording, exclude apps, and change retention and capacity. Recognized sensitive-content markers and common password managers are skipped. Get started with Gather Clipboard.

How do I open Recall?

Enable Recall in Settings → Search & Recall, then choose your shortcut. You can also Option-click the floating bubble or choose Recall from the menu bar. Recall opens with an empty search field and your five most recently added items. Type to search; clearing the search brings the recent items back. Results stay compact, the panel fits its content, and you can drag a result straight into another app. Recall searches your library locally.

Can I change the colors and appearance?

Choose Original Gather, Blue Gather, Sandstone, Tidal, Moss, Iris, Rosewood, or Graphite in Settings → Appearance. Each palette has light and dark appearances; choose one or follow your Mac’s system setting. Preview all eight palettes.

What happens when I drag an item out?

Files and images become copies; the original stays in Gather. Notes become Markdown .md files with their full saved text; copied text becomes UTF-8 .txt files in Finder, and links become .webloc website shortcuts. Compatible text inputs receive the text or URL directly. Images also offer native image formats for editors and chat apps. What a drop accepts depends on the receiving app. Protected credentials cannot be dragged out.

Can I open links or watch saved videos?

Use the browser icon on a link card to open its website. Supported YouTube links have a player in the preview, so you can watch without leaving Gather when the video allows embedding. You can always open the original link in your browser.

Do I need ChatGPT or an API key?

No. You need a Gather account, but ChatGPT and API keys are optional. Saving, organizing, and Recall work locally after signing in. Apple’s on-device models are the default for AI features, when available. Optional ChatGPT sign-in depends on account, plan, and app eligibility; the OpenAI API is a separate, billed option. Relevant saved material goes directly to the provider only with the applicable cloud permission. Chat permission and automatic background processing are separate settings.

What is a collection brief?

With at least three items containing readable text or prepared image descriptions, you can create an overview of your collection’s themes, key takeaways and saved images. It draws on the whole collection, including nested folders, with citations back to the evidence and coverage showing any gaps. Briefs use the provider and cloud permission you choose in Settings → AI & Summaries. They use saved material, without fetching articles behind links.

What can collection chat answer?

Ask about saved content across a collection, including its nested folders. Gather prepares item summaries, image descriptions, and a collection overview in the background. Chat reuses these alongside relevant saved text, with citations back to your sources; it uses prepared descriptions instead of reading the images again for each conversation. The panel shows what is still processing or unavailable. Chat doesn’t fetch articles behind saved links.

Which Macs can run it?

Gather is built for Apple silicon Macs running macOS 26 or later. On-device intelligence depends on Apple Intelligence and model availability. Supported image understanding uses macOS 27 features.

How do I install Gather?

Download the DMG, quit Gather if it is open, and drag Gather into Applications. Version 0.1.70 is signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple, with in-app updates and protected credential storage.