Show HN: QuickShelf – Stop opening Finder just to drag files

[slowlab]

I often found myself doing this tedious routine:

1. Download a file 2. Open Finder and locate it 3. Drag it into the browser/app to upload

For things like tax paperwork or testing uploads, I was repeating this dozens of times a day.

QuickShelf is a small macOS menu bar app that lets you instantly open a specific folder in a compact window and drag files directly — without opening Finder.

It’s lightweight, quick, and stays out of the way.

- https://github.com/Slowhand0309/QuickShelf - https://quickshelf-app.slowlab.dev

[ieuanking]

As a musician I love this especially because i constantly working with files (WAVs) would be cool if you could do some actual file browsing inside the drop down + like with music I want to be able to listen ot the wav before adding quick to rekordbox or ableton. Even for work (im a front-end dev for AI research platform) I think it would be helpful to do more browsing rather then selecting and then working from within that selected folder.

[slowlab]

Thanks for trying the app and for the great feedback — really appreciate it! Your work sounds really cool, and I’ll be creating an issue to explore in-dropdown file browsing and WAV previewing, as it sounds like it could be a great addition for both music and dev workflows.

[mthoms]

This is cool, well done. Is there an advantage over putting a folder in the dock?

Even if there isn't, I might find it useful because I currently have my dock set to only show running apps (one side effect of that mode is that folder stacks no longer work).

[slowlab]

Thanks! I didn’t know about that Dock setting where folder stacks disappear if you only show running apps — that’s interesting. One advantage here is that you can drag files directly from the menu into other apps or Finder, and even open it instantly with a keyboard shortcut for quick drag-and-drop. Glad to hear it might still be useful for your setup!

[alsetmusic]

Not OP, but you can’t drag and drop the contents of a folder in the Dock.

[slowlab]

Thanks for clarifying—my mistake if I misunderstood, but I actually tested it on my setup and found I could drag and drop items directly from a folder in the Dock. Apologies if I misinterpreted the limitation!

[mthoms]

Of course you can.

[slowlab]

That's definitely true! Thank you!

[slowlab]

We've released a new version(v0.1.0). You can now preview image files, text files, audio files, and more. Multiple selections and drag-and-drop are also supported. Please download and try it out if you'd like.

https://quickshelf-app.slowlab.dev/