Get more out of Tray.The parts easy to miss.
None of this is required reading — the tray works if you only ever drop things on it. These are the details that make it quicker once it is somewhere you actually put things.
Tip #1Push past the edge
Shove the pointer into the edge of the screen and keep going. The tray swings out — and because it takes real intent, it will not happen while you are reaching for something else.
Push past the edge
Shove the pointer into the edge of the screen and keep going. The tray swings out — and because it takes real intent, it will not happen while you are reaching for something else.
The trigger is a strip down the side of the screen rather than a point. How far it reaches in and how much of the edge it covers are both in Settings.
Tip #2Or just rest there
Resting the pointer in the corner opens it too, after about half a second. That one can happen by accident, so it has its own switch — turn it off and the push still works.
Or just rest there
Resting the pointer in the corner opens it too, after about half a second. That one can happen by accident, so it has its own switch — turn it off and the push still works.
It follows the system's own dwell timing by default, so it feels like your Dock does. Set your own delay if you would rather it waited longer.
Tip #3Carrying files opens it
Drag a file toward the corner and the tray is already open when you arrive. You never have to put something down to make room for it.
Carrying files opens it
Drag a file toward the corner and the tray is already open when you arrive. You never have to put something down to make room for it.
Only a real drag counts. Holding the mouse button down near the edge while doing something else will not open it.
Tip #4Space to look inside
Point at a card and press Space for the same Quick Look preview Finder gives you. Space again, or escape, closes it. Works inside an open cluster too.
Space
Space to look inside
Point at a card and press Space for the same Quick Look preview Finder gives you. Space again, or escape, closes it. Works inside an open cluster too.
Pointing at a card hands the keyboard to Tray so the keystroke can arrive, and the tray hands it straight back to whatever you were in when it closes.
Tip #5⌘-click for several at once
Hold Command and click to pick out more than one card. Drag any of them and the whole selection goes, in the order the arc was showing it.
⌘click
⌘-click for several at once
Hold Command and click to pick out more than one card. Drag any of them and the whole selection goes, in the order the arc was showing it.
Picked cards take a tick in the corner. Clicking one without Command clears the selection and opens that file instead.
Tip #6Shake two files together
Carry a file over one already in the tray and give it a quick shake. The two bind into a single card — the fastest way to gather things that arrived separately.
5 files5
Shake two files together
Carry a file over one already in the tray and give it a quick shake. The two bind into a single card — the fastest way to gather things that arrived separately.
Three changes of direction inside about three-quarters of a second. Short flicks rather than one long sweep.
Tip #7A handful stays a handful
Five files dragged over at once land as one card counted 5 files, not five cards. They were one errand when you picked them up.
5 files5
A handful stays a handful
Five files dragged over at once land as one card counted 5 files, not five cards. They were one errand when you picked them up.
Binding files into one card is part of Tray Pro. Without it all five still arrive and nothing is lost — they simply arrive as five.
Tip #8Click a pile to open it
A cluster fans onto a second arc beyond the first, and the tray draws back to make room. Scroll it if there are more than fit; click again to close.
5 files5
Click a pile to open it
A cluster fans onto a second arc beyond the first, and the tray draws back to make room. Scroll it if there are more than fit; click again to close.
The second arc carries the same curve, spacing and lean as the first, and opens from wherever the pile was sitting rather than from the corner.
Tip #9Give a pile a name
Right-click a cluster and choose Rename…. It stops being 4 files and becomes what the four files are for. The count stays in the corner.
Give a pile a name
Right-click a cluster and choose Rename…. It stops being 4 files and becomes what the four files are for. The count stays in the corner.
Names survive reordering, relaunching and files joining or leaving. Clear the field to go back to being counted.
Tip #10Turn a pile into a folder
Right-click and choose Move Files to a Folder…. It is the one thing in the app that writes to disk, so it asks where first and tells you how many.
Turn a pile into a folder
Right-click and choose Move Files to a Folder…. It is the one thing in the app that writes to disk, so it asks where first and tells you how many.
It moves one file at a time and puts everything back if any step fails, so a folder is either made whole or not made at all.
Tip #11Keep the ones that matter
Everything dropped leaves after a day — that is what makes dropping something casual rather than a filing decision. Pin the ones worth keeping and they stay.
Keep the ones that matter
Everything dropped leaves after a day — that is what makes dropping something casual rather than a filing decision. Pin the ones worth keeping and they stay.
Free keeps three for good and the rest age out as normal. The lifetime goes up to a month, or never.
Tip #12Watch a folder instead
Point Tray at Downloads, screenshots, wherever work lands. Its newest files are in the corner without you dragging anything. Each folder is asked separately how much it offers.
Watch a folder instead
Point Tray at Downloads, screenshots, wherever work lands. Its newest files are in the corner without you dragging anything. Each folder is asked separately how much it offers.
Downloads is watched out of the box — as an ordinary entry, so it can be switched off or removed like any folder you add yourself.
Tip #13Rearrange the arc
Drag a card to a different place in the quarter and it stays there. Its age comes with it, so tidying resets nothing — and a named pile keeps its name.
Rearrange the arc
Drag a card to a different place in the quarter and it stays there. Its age comes with it, so tidying resets nothing — and a named pile keeps its name.
Order decides which card sits nearest the corner, which is the one you reach for without looking.
Tip #14Shape it to your hand
Card size, distance from the corner, how many show, how far the trigger reaches, how long the wait is, how fast it all moves. Every one of them live while you drag it.
Shape it to your hand
Card size, distance from the corner, how many show, how far the trigger reaches, how long the wait is, how fast it all moves. Every one of them live while you drag it.
Animation speed included. Slowing it down is a setting rather than a lie about the app, and it is the easiest way to see what the arc is actually doing.
Something here not behaving the way it reads? support@gettray.app.