File Picker

A keyboard-first, Spotlight-style file navigator for macOS. Press ⌥ Space, type a few letters, hit ↵.

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macOS 13+, Apple Silicon. Signed and notarized. Free and open source, MIT.

Fast where it matters

Native, no web views

AppKit panel on top of a small C engine. Opens in one frame, no Electron, no dependencies.

Fuzzy search as you type

Filters the current folder instantly. Type de/src/Lau to search nested folders, matching each path segment.

Create by typing

Type a name that doesn't exist and get "Create folder" and "Create file" rows right there.

Actions on ⌘↵

Open with, reveal in Finder, rename inline, duplicate, copy, paste, move to Trash. Same fuzzy search.

Paste into any app

⌘⇧V drops the selected file into the message box you came from: Telegram, Slack, Mail.

Huge folders, no stutter

Enumerates with getattrlistbulk() off the main thread. 100,000 entries in about 150 ms, 42 bytes each.

Keys

`⌥ Space`	Show or hide the panel. Rebind it in Settings (`⌘ ,`).
`↑` `↓`	Move selection
`→` / `↵`	Enter folder, or open file with its default app
`←` / `⌘ ↑`	Parent folder (⌘↑ works while searching)
`⌘ ↵`	Actions for the selected item
★ / 🕒	The panel opens on a home start page listing favorites and recent folders; "Add to Favorites" lives in the actions list
`⇥` / `⌘ S`	Mark several items; `⌘ ↵` then acts on all of them
`⌘ P`	Toggle a Quick Look preview column
`⌘ C` / `⌘ ⇧ C`	Copy absolute path / path with `~/`
`⌘ ⇧ O`	Open with an application, fuzzy-searched
`⌘ ⇧ V`	Paste the selected file into the previous app
`⌘ R` `⌘ D`	Rename, duplicate (Trash is in the actions list only)
`esc`	Clear search, go back, hide

Install

Download the latest release and unzip it. The app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings.
Move FilePicker.app to your Applications folder and open it. A folder icon appears in the menu bar; there is no Dock icon.
Press ⌥ Space. The first time you enter Desktop, Documents or Downloads, macOS asks for access to that folder once.
Optional: for ⌘ ⇧ V "Paste into app", open Settings (⌘ ,) and click Grant next to Accessibility.
Optional: to start at login, add File Picker under System Settings, General, Login Items.

Updates are automatic. The app checks GitHub Releases every few hours, verifies the new build's signature, and swaps itself in place. Turn that off in Settings if you prefer to be asked first.

Build from source

Needs the Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install); Xcode itself is not required.

git clone https://github.com/nanot1m/my-file-picker.git
cd my-file-picker && make run

Local builds are ad-hoc signed unless you create a self-signed Local Dev code-signing certificate in Keychain Access; the Makefile picks it up and macOS then remembers folder permissions across rebuilds.