Pinned

A small macOS menu bar app for keeping important files and folders one click away.

macOS does not provide a public API for third-party apps to rewrite another app's Dock menu. Pinned gives you the practical version of that workflow: a native status bar menu that shows pins for the currently active app, plus global pins that are always visible.

Features

• Pin files or folders to the currently active app.
• Pin files or folders globally.
• Open app-scoped pinned files and folders with their pinned app.
• Open globally pinned files and folders with the default app.
• Remove pins from the menu.
• Stores pins locally at ~/Library/Application Support/PinnedItems/pins.json.

Safety

• No network access is used.
• No Accessibility, Automation, screen recording, or admin permission is requested.
• The app does not inject into other apps or modify their menus.
• Pins are local file URLs selected by you through the standard macOS file picker.
• Missing pinned items show an alert instead of trying to open a stale path silently.

When running, the app appears as a pin icon in the macOS menu bar.

Build

swift build -c release
./scripts/make-app.sh

The app bundle will be created at:

.build/Pinned.app

Open it with:

open ".build/Pinned.app"

DMG

./scripts/make-dmg.sh
open ".build/Pinned.dmg"

Drag Pinned.app to Applications, then launch it from there.

Notes

Pins scoped to an app appear when that app is frontmost. For example, pins created while VS Code is active appear in the Pinned for Visual Studio Code section when VS Code is the active app.

License

Pinned is licensed under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. You may use, modify, and distribute it for noncommercial purposes. See LICENSE for the full terms.

Patent Notice

This project is provided for noncommercial use only. No patent rights are granted beyond those expressly provided in the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. The author does not grant permission to patent this project, its code, or derivative works based on it.