Scratch Support

Last updated: July 5, 2026

Scratch is the instant menu bar scratchpad for macOS. Quick answers below — and a human on the other end of the email for everything else.

Contact

Found a bug, have a question, or want to request a feature? Write to hello@madebyoxbow.com — a human reads every message, usually within a day. For bug reports, mentioning your Scratch version and macOS version helps us fix things faster.

How do I summon Scratch?

Press the global hotkey — ⌥K by default — from any app and the panel appears; press it again to dismiss. You can also click the Scratch icon in the menu bar and choose "Show / Hide Scratch." To change the hotkey, open Preferences from the menu bar icon (or press ⌘, while Scratch is front) and record a new one.

If the hotkey does nothing, another app has probably claimed the same shortcut. Pick a different combination in Preferences and it takes effect immediately.

Where do my notes live?

Every page saves automatically to a local database inside the app's own sandboxed container on your Mac. There is no account, no cloud, and no network access at all — nothing ever leaves your device. The privacy policy has the full story.

Backups and export

Scratch keeps a rolling daily backup of its database alongside it, also on your device, and retains the five most recent copies. If the database is ever damaged, Scratch offers to restore the latest backup the next time it launches.

To get your notes out, open Preferences and click "Export all as Markdown…" — every page is written as a plain Markdown file to the folder you pick. Your notes are never held hostage.

Privacy

Scratch collects nothing: no analytics, no tracking, no telemetry, no accounts. Read the full Scratch privacy policy.

Platform and version

The current release is Scratch 1.0, which requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later. Scratch is a native Mac app — there are no iOS, iPadOS, or Windows versions.