Guide

How to use Muse

Muse is on your Mac, so here is how it works. Each lesson plays itself, and you can click any step to try it. The keys are the ones Muse ships with. Yours are in Settings, Shortcuts.

Collecting
Drop Ring Clipper Screenshot
Finding
Launcher Shelf

How do I save a picture without opening Muse?

Your collections, orbiting the cursor. A dial that opens around the pointer while you drag, so filing something never opens a window. It works in every app from the moment Muse is installed.

Hold a Key⌃

On by default, so an ordinary drag shows nothing. Control, or Command, Option or Shift.

Every App

Any drag anywhere on your Mac, not only in a browser.

Inbox

Always at the top of the ring. For anything you have not filed yet.

Downloads

Always at the bottom. Sends the file to your Downloads folder instead.

Your Four Newest

The ring holds the four collections you filed into last, so the one you just used comes back first.

Never Show For

Name an app in Settings > Collect + Find and drags from it are left alone.

How do I save something from a web page?

A free companion clipper: right-click anything on the web, or pick an element straight off the page, and it lands in your library. It comes from the free browser extension.

Its Key⌃M

Change it in Settings > Collect + Find > Web Clipper.

Right-Click Instead

Save an image, video, link, selection or the whole page from the page’s own menu.

Clip Several

Every click takes another thing. The page stays dimmed until you leave.

Without the Mouse

Arrow keys move the ring, Return clips, Escape leaves with nothing saved.

Browsers

Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Dia and Firefox. Not Safari yet.

Stays on Your Mac

It talks only to Muse, and does nothing while Muse is closed.

How do I get a screenshot straight into Muse?

Grab any part of the screen straight into Muse. It works like the Mac's own screenshot tool, and a shot taken in a browser remembers the page it came from.

Its Key⇧⌘S

Change it in Settings > Shortcuts.

Whole WindowSpace

Press Space instead of dragging to grab one window.

Escape

Cancels the shot without taking anything.

It Remembers the Page

Taken over a browser, it keeps the page’s name and a link back to it.

Save the Page Instead⇧⌘B

Saves the page in your front browser tab. No extension needed.

Where It Lands

Straight into your Inbox, and the card asks where it should go.

How do I find something I saved?

One search bar for everything. The same bar, and the same results, whether you open it inside Muse or float it over another app. Press Space on a picture and it fills the bar.

Two Keys

⌘K inside Muse, ⇧⌘K from anywhere else. The same bar either way.

What It Matches

Titles, notes, tags, and the words inside a picture.

By Colour

Type a colour name like dark green or pastel pink.

By MeaningPro

Type what you remember, like dark moody UI, and Muse finds it.

Search All⇥

Every match in the library, not just the top few.

Paste a Link

Paste a link into the floating bar and it is saved.

How do I keep Muse at the edge of my screen?

Everything you've collected, at the edge of your screen. A tray you can pin open and drop into. It is off until you turn it on in Settings > Collect + Find > The Shelf.

Turn It On

Off until you switch it on in Settings > Collect + Find > The Shelf.

Its Keys⌥B

Show and hide. Pin and unpin is ⇧⌘P.

Reveal at Edge

On by default: push the mouse into the right edge of the screen.

Drop to File

Drop anything onto a collection and it is filed there.

Step Back Out

Inside a collection, the back arrow returns you to the list.

PreviewSpace

Previews the item in focus without leaving the Shelf.

The whole guide, in writing

The same five lessons without the animations, for reading or searching.

The Drop Ring
Drag anything, anywhere on your Mac, and hold Control. A ring of your collections opens around the cursor. Inbox is always at the top and Downloads at the bottom, and between them sit the four collections you filed into most recently, so the one you just used comes back first. Carry the item to one and let go. No window opens and you stay in the app you were already in. Holding a key is on by default, so an ordinary drag shows nothing; the key, and whether one is needed at all, is in Settings, Collect and Find, Drop Ring. The same panel can limit the ring to browsers, or leave named apps alone entirely. See it play.
The Web Clipper
With the Muse browser extension installed, press ⌃M on a web page. The page dims and whatever is under the cursor is ringed. Move the mouse, or the arrow keys, to ring something else, then click or press Return to take it. You can take several things in a row, because the page stays dimmed until you leave with Escape. Each clip brings up Muse’s Capture Card, where Return walks down the three rows, a name, a collection and tags Muse works out for itself, and ⌘↵ saves. You can skip the clipper altogether and use the page’s own right-click menu to save an image, video, link, selection or the whole page. It works in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Dia and Firefox, not Safari, and it does nothing while Muse is closed. See it play.
Screenshots
⇧⌘S from anywhere turns the cursor into a crosshair. Drag out the part of the screen you want, or press Space to grab a whole window. Escape cancels without taking anything. The shot lands in your Inbox and the Capture Card asks where it belongs. Taken over a browser it keeps the page’s name and a link back to it, so you can return to where it came from. ⇧⌘B saves the whole page in your front browser tab, with no extension needed. See it play.
The Launcher
⌘K inside Muse, ⇧⌘K from anywhere else. It is the same bar with the same results either way: your bookmarks, your collections and the things you saved most recently, with your Downloads folder below them. Type a word and the list narrows. Titles, notes, tags and the text inside pictures all match, and so do colour names like dark green. Tab searches the whole library rather than the top few. Arrow through the results, and press Space on a picture to fill the bar with it, staged against a wall coloured from the picture itself; arrowing on carries the preview with you. Return opens what you found where it came from, and ⌘↵ opens it inside Muse. See it play.
The Shelf
The Shelf is off until you turn it on in Settings, Collect and Find, The Shelf. After that ⌥B shows and hides it, or you can push the mouse into the right edge of the screen. It holds your collections: click one to look inside, and the back arrow brings you out again. Drag anything out of it into another app, or drop something onto a collection to file it there. ⇧⌘P pins it open across apps, and unpinned it slides away as soon as you move off it. See it play.

Frequently asked

Why does nothing happen when I press the clipper key?
The clipper needs two things: the Muse browser extension installed, and Muse itself open on your Mac. It does nothing while Muse is closed. If both are true, check the key in Settings, Collect and Find, Web Clipper, since another extension or the site itself may have taken it.
The Drop Ring does not appear when I drag something.
Holding a key first is on by default, so an ordinary drag shows nothing. Hold Control as you drag and the ring opens around the cursor. You can change the key, or turn the holding off entirely, in Settings, Collect and Find, Drop Ring. The same panel can limit the ring to browsers, or leave particular apps alone.
Where does a screenshot go?
Into your Inbox, and the Capture Card comes up to ask where it belongs. Nothing is filed until you answer it, and Escape throws the shot away. A screenshot taken over a browser keeps the page's name and a link back to it.
Can I search Muse without opening it?
Yes. Shift-Command-K opens the same search bar over whatever app you are in, with the same results you would get inside Muse. Command-K opens it within Muse. Return opens what you found where it came from, and Command-Return opens it inside Muse instead.
How do I turn the Shelf on?
The Shelf is off until you switch it on in Settings, Collect and Find, The Shelf. After that, Option-B shows and hides it, or you can push the mouse into the right edge of the screen. Shift-Command-P pins it open across apps.
Which browsers does the clipper work in?
Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Dia and Firefox. Safari is not supported yet. Everything the extension does talks only to Muse on your Mac, and nothing is sent anywhere online.