PC Mode

A macOS menu-bar utility for Finder actions and switching between individual windows.

Download

Download PC Mode for macOS

The installer is distributed through this GitHub repository. Open the link above to download PCMode-Installer.dmg, then open the downloaded disk image and drag PC Mode.app to your Applications folder. If GitHub does not have a published release yet, use the Releases page to download the latest available installer.

• Finder Trash: while Finder is frontmost, press the selected media key to move selected items to Trash. Rewind (F7) is the default; F7–F12 are selectable (Rewind, Play/Pause, Forward, Mute, Volume Down, and Volume Up).
• Finder cut/move: in Finder, Cmd+X copies selected files. The next Cmd+V in a destination folder moves those copied files; copying again, changing the clipboard, or leaving Finder cancels the pending move.
• Windows & Apps: Cmd+Tab switches between individual windows, including hidden and minimized windows. Hold Cmd while pressing Tab to select, release Cmd to open the selection, use Shift+Tab to move backward, or Escape to cancel. Disable this feature to restore macOS’s standard Cmd+Tab behavior.
• CPU and RAM in the switcher: each app shows its CPU and memory use, including its helper processes (browser tabs, Electron helpers), measured the same way as Activity Monitor. CPU turns orange at 40% and red at 90%. RAM is only highlighted for apps over 1 GB when macOS reports memory pressure, since a full-looking RAM number alone is normal on a Mac.

Click the PC Mode menu-bar icon to open Settings and About. Changes to the available feature settings save immediately.

PC Mode attempts to register itself to launch at login. For reliable startup, move PC Mode.app to the Applications folder before opening it; macOS may ask you to approve it in System Settings → General → Login Items.

The switcher uses Accessibility to enumerate windows, with an app entry when an app exposes no windows. It unhides the selected app, restores the selected minimized window and raises it. Apps may restrict which windows they expose. Window enumeration runs in the background with bounded Accessibility calls.

Build and run

Requires macOS 13+ and Swift Command Line Tools.

./test.sh
./build-app.sh
open ./PCMode.app --args --settings

Enable PC Mode in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and Input Monitoring. The Settings Manage button opens the system permission requests, and the status indicator reports when all required permissions are ready.

Local builds are ad-hoc signed. Rebuilding can require granting permissions again. Quit other keyboard remappers before use to avoid conflicting shortcuts.

The installer build creates PCMode.app and PCMode-Installer.dmg in the project folder. The included tests cover the shortcut press gate, Finder move state, key mappings, switcher navigation logic, and CPU/RAM formatting and thresholds.