keypeek
KeyPeek help
Everything about setting up and using KeyPeek. Can't find your answer? Write to support@keypeek.app. A human reads every message.
Setting up
- Download KeyPeek, open the disk image, and drag KeyPeek into the Applications folder next to it.
- Open KeyPeek from your Applications folder. It lives in your menu bar; look for the ⌘ keycap icon. There's no Dock icon and no window until you ask for one.
- The welcome window walks you through granting Accessibility access (details below). Click Grant Accessibility Access…, then switch KeyPeek on in the System Settings list that opens.
- That's it. Go to any app and hold ⌘ for a moment.
The Accessibility permission
KeyPeek needs exactly one permission: Accessibility, in System Settings → Privacy & Security. macOS gates two things behind it, and KeyPeek uses both for exactly one purpose:
- Reading menus. The overlay's contents come straight from the frontmost app's real menu bar, read on the spot.
- Running commands. When you click a command or press ↩, KeyPeek presses that menu item for you.
Privacy promise: what KeyPeek reads never leaves your Mac. No account, no analytics, and no network apart from the one small version check you trigger yourself with Check for Updates. See the privacy policy (it's genuinely short).
If KeyPeek doesn't appear in the Accessibility list after clicking the grant button: click the + under the list and add KeyPeek from your Applications folder, then switch it on.
Peeking
Hold ⌘ (just ⌘, nothing else) for about a second. The overlay fades in with every command of the app you're using, grouped by menu, shortcuts drawn as keycaps.
- Release ⌘ and it disappears. Glance, learn, move on.
- Press a shortcut while holding and it just works. The overlay gets out of the way; the app receives your keys as if KeyPeek weren't there.
- Click any command to run it immediately.
- Scroll over the panel to browse long menus.
- Quick ⌘-taps, ⌘-clicks, and ⌘-shortcuts never trigger the overlay. Only a quiet, deliberate hold does.
A checkmark before a command mirrors the checkmark in the real menu; dimmed commands are currently disabled in the app.
Pinning & search
To keep the overlay up and search it, pin it. Any of these works:
- Release ⌘ while your pointer is over the panel.
- Click the search field (or anywhere in the panel's chrome) while peeking.
- Choose Peek Current App from the menu-bar icon.
Pinned, the search field focuses and you can type immediately; KeyPeek never activates itself or steals your app's window. Fuzzy matching finds "Paste and Match Style" from pms. Then:
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ | Move the selection |
| ↩ | Run the selected command |
| ⎋ | Close the overlay |
Clicking anywhere outside the panel, or switching apps, also closes it.
Favorites
Hover any command and click the ★. Starred commands gather in a Favorites card at the top of the overlay, per app, in the order you starred them. Star things you keep forgetting; unstar with another click.
Settings
Open Settings… from the menu-bar icon.
- Hold to peek: choose ⌘, ⌥, or ⌃ as the trigger, or turn holding off entirely (the status-menu item still works).
- Hold delay: how long the quiet hold must last, from 0.3 to 2 seconds.
- Show disabled commands: include or hide items the app has grayed out.
- Show commands without shortcuts: hide them to make the overlay a pure shortcut cheat sheet.
- Glassy background: the overlay's translucent material. Turn it off for a solid, higher-contrast background, easier to read over busy screens and friendlier to low vision.
- Launch KeyPeek at login: so it's always one held key away.
Trial & license
KeyPeek is fully unlocked for 7 days after you first open it, no account or card needed. After that, a one-time $7.99 license keeps it going on up to three Macs you own. The key verifies on your Mac and never phones home.
To activate: click the menu bar icon, choose the Trial item (or open Settings → License → Buy or Activate), paste your key, and press Activate. Lost the key? Retrieve it with your order number and checkout email.
Troubleshooting
Holding ⌘ does nothing
- Check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility: KeyPeek must be listed and switched on. If it's on and still nothing, toggle it off and on, then quit and reopen KeyPeek.
- Make sure the trigger isn't set to Off in Settings.
- Hold ⌘ alone. Pressing any other key or clicking during the hold cancels it (that's deliberate).
The overlay says "Reading menus…" and stays empty
- Usually the Accessibility grant went stale after an update. Toggle KeyPeek off and on in the Accessibility list, then relaunch the app.
- A handful of apps expose no menu information at all (some games and cross-platform apps); KeyPeek can only show what an app publishes.
A command didn't run
- Some menu items only populate when their menu is physically opened (dynamic lists like Open Recent); KeyPeek skips what an app doesn't publish until then.
- If a command opens a dialog and the app is briefly busy, KeyPeek stays quiet rather than guessing. Check whether the dialog appeared behind your windows.
Something else?
Write to support@keypeek.app with the app you were using and what you expected. Screenshots welcome.