File Shelf
Zip and unzip without touching Finder
Select files on the notch shelf, compress, and drag the archive where it's going. Notchy uses native ditto, so the zip opens clean on any machine.
No __MACOSX in the archive
Compression runs through ditto, which packs the files rather than Apple's resource-fork metadata — so nobody on Windows opens your zip and finds a mystery folder inside it.
Straight from the shelf
The files are already staged on the shelf because you dropped them there. Compressing is one more action in the place you were already working.
Expand, too
Unpack an archive and its contents stage on the shelf ready to drag onward, Quick Look, or run through the image tools.
One fewer utility
If Keka or The Unarchiver is on your Mac purely for .zip, this replaces the reason it's there.
Everything Notchy does, for free
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
- Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
- AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
- Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
- Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
- Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
- Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
- Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
- On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
- Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
- App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
- Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
- One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
- Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
- System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
- Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
- Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
- Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
- Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
- Open GitHub PR count in the notch (Keychain-stored token)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Privacy Indicator — pill when any app's camera or mic goes live
- Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
- Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
- Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
- Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
- Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
- Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
- Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
- Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
- Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
- Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
- Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
- USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
- Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
- macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
- Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
- System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
- Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
- AirPods connection manager & battery
- Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
- Quick notes & Calendar widgets
- Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
- Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
- Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
- Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
- Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
- 133 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple Silicon
Zip & unzip on Mac — FAQ
How do I zip files on a Mac without opening Finder?
Drop them on the Notchy shelf, select what you want, and compress. The archive is created in place and can be dragged straight into an email or upload field — Finder never has to come forward.
Why do my Mac zips contain a __MACOSX folder?
Because the usual compression path packs Apple's resource-fork metadata alongside your files, which anyone on Windows then sees as junk. Notchy compresses through native ditto, producing an archive that unpacks cleanly on other platforms.
Can it expand archives too?
Yes — expand an archive from the shelf and the contents land ready to drag. For everyday .zip work that removes the reason to keep a dedicated archive app around.
Is this a Keka or Unarchiver replacement?
For .zip, largely. Keka and The Unarchiver handle a much wider format list — .rar, .7z, .tar variants and more — so if you regularly open those, keep one of them. Notchy covers the common case without a second app.
Does it re-compress or damage the files?
No. It's ditto doing standard zip compression on the files you selected — same bytes back out when it's expanded.