Getting started

Requirements

Braindrop runs on macOS 15.0 or later.

Install

Braindrop for Mac is distributed through TestFlight while it’s in public beta. Join and install it from the TestFlight app: testflight.apple.com/join/d6mtWsP4

Sign in to iCloud

Braindrop has no account of its own. It uses the iCloud account already signed in on your Mac (System Settings → \[your name\]) to sync drops between your Macs. You can use the app fully signed out of iCloud; your drops just stay on that one Mac. See Syncing & storage.

Capture your first drop

Type into the field at the bottom of the window and press Return. The drop appears at the bottom of the list. Shift+Return inserts a newline instead of submitting.

A drop must be 4–900 characters after trimming whitespace. Content outside that range shows an inline message under the field and is not saved.

Find your way around

The sidebar has three sections:

• Braindrops: the active list. This is where you land.
• Archive: drops you’ve archived, restorable or deletable.
• Settings: the retention window and the quick-drop shortcut.

Press 1, 2 or 3 to jump between them. The digit navigates only when no text field has focus, so it never interrupts typing.

Next

• Braindrops covers capturing, expanding, reordering and the row actions.
• Quick drop covers the global hotkey.
• Settings covers the retention window and the shortcut.