HexDrop Documentation

Getting Started

On first launch, HexDrop may show a welcome screen with quick tips. You can turn this off and find it again under About HexDrop in the menu.

Finding HexDrop

HexDrop lives in the menu bar: look for the droplet icon on the right side of your screen. If you don't see it, click the arrows (» or ››) at the edge of the menu bar to reveal the overflow area—HexDrop may be there. You can drag it into the main menu bar if you prefer.

Opening the Menu

Left-click the HexDrop icon to open the menu. You'll see two main options:

• Pick — Start picking a color from your screen. This is the primary way to capture colors.
• Formats — View and copy a color in multiple formats (HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA, and more).

You can also use keyboard shortcuts from any app—no need to switch to HexDrop first.

Quick Reference

Below is a cheat sheet for the actions you’ll use most often. Details for each area are in the sections that follow.

Picking Colors

1. Click the Pick button in the menu, or press ⌘⇧E from anywhere.
2. macOS shows the built-in color sampler. Move the target over the color you want, then confirm your choice.
3. HexDrop copies the result in your default format and adds it to history.

Every picked color is automatically copied to your clipboard (in your default format from Settings) and added to your history. A short confirmation appears near the cursor when copy succeeds.

Canceling

Close the system sampler without choosing a color to cancel—nothing is copied or added to history.

Manual colors, import, and export

HexDrop is still fastest when you pick from the screen, but you can also build a set by hand. Add a color manually when you already know the value, import colors from a saved file, or export the current list when you want to move it elsewhere.

Add colors manually

Use the manual add flow when the color comes from a spec, a design note, or a teammate instead of the screen. Enter a supported value such as a HEX color, confirm it, and HexDrop adds it to your recent colors just like a picked swatch.

Import colors

Import brings a saved color list into HexDrop so you can copy, reorder, reverse, and export it from the menu. It is useful for restoring a working set or starting from colors someone already collected.

Export colors

Export writes your current colors to a portable file. Use it to keep a project palette with your work, hand colors to another app or person, or archive the current history before clearing it.

For Figma plugin workflows, Export for Figma plugin is still available as its own shortcut-friendly export path.

Keyboard Shortcuts

HexDrop’s shortcuts work globally—even when another app is active. Pick Color, Show Menu, and Color Formats follow that rule. Export for Figma plugin (⌘⇧F) is different: it only runs when the menu popover is open, so it isn’t a global shortcut.

Copy All (and everything else in the menu) is a tap in the UI—not one of the four shortcuts you configure here. See Color History, Color Formats View, and Figma plugin export for the full picture.

In Settings → Shortcuts, you can tweak or turn off each shortcut. Global shortcuts do not require Screen Recording, Accessibility, or Input Monitoring. If global registration ever fails on your Mac, those shortcuts still work while HexDrop is in the foreground. Use Reset anytime you want the defaults back. Open Settings from the menu (Settings…) or press ⌘, when HexDrop is focused.

Global shortcuts may conflict with other apps. If a shortcut doesn't work as expected, choose a different combination or disable it.

Figma plugin export

Save your color history as a .figpalette file for Figma plugins that understand that format. From the menu, choose Export for Figma plugin, or press ⌘⇧F while the menu is open (it’s off when history is empty).

Pick colors as you work, export when you’re ready, and pull the palette into your plugin workflow—no copy-paste marathon.

Color History

Your recently picked or manually added colors appear in the History section below the Pick and Formats buttons. By default, HexDrop keeps the last 10 colors (you can change this in Settings).

How order works: New colors normally appear at the top—most recent first—so your latest picks are easy to reach. That order is what HexDrop saves until you change it on purpose.

Reverse order

Next to the quick format pills, the arrow button flips how colors are shown in the menu: oldest at the top instead of newest. This is a preview until you save it. Tap the arrow again to return to the usual view, or tap the checkmark to apply the reversed order to your saved history.

Quick copy format pills

On that same row, up to four formats you have enabled in Settings → Formats appear as small pills. Tap a pill to change your default copy format for swatches, Copy All, and exports from the menu—without opening Settings.

Color Names

HexDrop assigns a name to each color using perceptual color matching (CIEDE2000) against a palette of 1,500+ named colors. Chromatic colors (purples, blues, greens, etc.) are prioritized over gray-ish names, and when several names are equally good matches, HexDrop prefers designer-friendly names (e.g. Gin, Early Dawn, Danube, Mint Green) for a more intuitive experience.

List View and Grid View

You can switch between two layouts:

• List view — Each color appears as a row with a swatch, value, and actions. Good when you want to see the full format string.
• Grid view — Colors appear as compact cards. Useful when you're browsing visually.

Use the toggle icons in the History header (grid and list icons) to switch, or press ⌘1 or ⌘G for grid view and ⌘2 or ⌘L for list view when the menu is open. Your choice is remembered.

Copying a Color

You can copy a color in several ways:

• Click the color swatch — Copies in your default format (set in Settings).
• Click the copy icon — Same as clicking the swatch.
• Select with keyboard, then press Enter or ⌘C — Copies the selected color (or multiple if more than one selected). See keyboard navigation below.
• Copy All — Tap the Copy All row at the bottom to copy the entire history (one value per line in your default format, no names). Colors are copied in the same order they appear in the menu, including when the list is reversed.

After you copy, HexDrop flashes a quick confirmation in your chosen language. In Spanish, color names in that message appear in Spanish too.

Opening Color Formats

Each history item has a chevron (›) on the right. Click it to open the Color Formats view for that color. You can also select a color with the keyboard and press F to open Formats for that color.

Selecting Colors (Finder-Style)

• Click — Select a single color (or copy if clicking the swatch).
• ⌘+Click — Toggle a color in or out of the selection (add if unselected, remove if selected). Holding ⌘ pauses the default action—only the selection changes, no copy or open.
• Shift+Click — Extend the selection from the anchor to the clicked item (range select).

Removing a Color

• List view — Click the minus (−) icon once to highlight, then click again to confirm. Or hold Control to reveal the trash icon and click it to delete.
• Grid view — Hold Control to turn the chevrons into trash icons, then click a trash icon to delete that color.
• Either view (keyboard) — Select one or more items and press Delete to remove all selected. Use ⌘Z to undo the entire batch.

Reordering Colors

You can reorder colors in both list and grid view:

• List view — Hold Option to reveal up (↑) or down (↓) arrows (first item shows down). Click an arrow to move that color.
• Grid view — Hold Option to reveal left (←) or right (→) arrows (last item shows left). Click an arrow to move that color in the list order.
• Both views (keyboard) — Select an item, hold Option, then press ↑ ↓ (list) or ↑ ↓ ← → (grid) to move it. The icon switches to a combined up-down (↑↓) when focused and Option is held. Works when exactly one is selected.

While the list is reversed and you have not applied or turned it off, Option-based reordering is disabled so the menu stays predictable. Apply the order with the checkmark, or tap the arrow again to return to normal, then reorder as usual.

Keyboard Navigation

When the HexDrop menu is open and the History section has focus:

• List view: Use ↑ and ↓ to move selection.
• Grid view: Use ↑ ↓ ← and → to move selection.
• Shift+arrows — Extend or contract the selection: Shift+Down/Right adds the next item; Shift+Up/Left deselects the current anchor (goes back). At the top or bottom, pressing again keeps the selection unchanged.
• ⌘A — Select all colors.
• Enter or ⌘C — Copy the selected color(s). Multiple selected: copies newline-separated values in your default format. All selected items show a checkmark briefly.
• Delete — Remove all selected colors.
• F — Open the Color Formats view for the selected color (only when exactly one is selected).
• P — Start a new color pick (same as Pick Color).
• ⌘Z — Undo the last delete, clear, or move.
• Option+arrows — Reorder the selected color (↑↓ in list; ↑↓←→ in grid); works when exactly one is selected and the reversed preview is not active.

Color Formats View

When you tap the chevron (›) on a history item (or press F when a color is selected), HexDrop shows the Color Formats view. Here you can see a single color in multiple formats.

Standard formats: HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA, CMYK, Closest Pantone. RGBA and HSLA are disabled by default; enable them in Settings → Formats if needed.

Developer formats: OKLCH, CSS Variable, SwiftUI, Tailwind. You can enable or disable these in Settings → Formats.

“Closest Pantone” is an approximation. Exact print results depend on calibration, materials, and process.

Each format has its own copy button. Use Copy All to paste all enabled formats in one go—handy for design docs or notes. Copy All prepends the color name as the first line (e.g. Blue:\nHEX: #3B82F6).

Selecting Formats (Finder-Style)

• Click — Select a single format.
• ⌘+Click — Toggle a format in or out of the selection.
• Shift+Click — Extend the selection from the anchor to the clicked format.
• Enter or ⌘C — Copy the selected format(s). Multiple selected: copies newline-separated values. All selected rows show a checkmark briefly.

Keyboard Navigation (Formats View)

• ← — Go back to the menu (keeps the current color selected).
• ↑ / ↓ — Move focus between format rows.
• Shift+↑ / Shift+↓ — Extend or contract the selection (same as history: add when moving into unselected, deselect when going back).
• ⌘A — Select all enabled formats.
• Enter or ⌘C — Copy the selected format(s) (single or multiple).
• P — Start a new color pick (same as Pick Color).
• ⌘Z — Undo the last delete from the header (if applicable).

The Pick Color… button at the bottom starts a new color pick. Use Back to return to the menu.

Settings

Open Settings… from the HexDrop menu (or press ⌘, when the app is focused). Everything is grouped into tabs: General, Formats, Shortcuts, and Advanced. When the Settings window is focused, use ← and → to hop between tabs—they wrap from last to first.

General

• Theme — Auto follows the Mac’s light/dark mode, or choose Light or Dark for the menu popover, Settings, About, and the rest of HexDrop’s UI. This is separate from the popover’s background material (see Window Appearance).
• Window Appearance — How the menu popover itself looks: System (default macOS vibrancy), Solid (flat), or Glass (translucent). Mix and match with theme—for example, dark theme + glass popover.
• Copy colors as — Default format when you copy from a swatch or with Enter/⌘C in history (Hex, RGB, HSL, CMYK, Closest Pantone). The Color Formats view still exposes every enabled format on its own.
• History size — How many recent colors to show (1–30; default 10). Lowering the number hides older rows without deleting them until you clear history or remove colors.
• Language — System, English, or Spanish. Changing language applies after you restart HexDrop.

Formats

Turn formats on or off for the Color Formats view and for Copy All:

• Standard formats: HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA, CMYK, Closest Pantone. RGBA and HSLA are off by default.
• Developer formats: OKLCH, CSS Variable, SwiftUI, Tailwind. The developer section only appears when at least one developer format is enabled.

Anything you disable stays out of the Formats popover and out of Copy All.

Shortcuts

Change the Eyedropper, Menu, Color Formats, and Export for Figma plugin shortcuts. Each has an Enabled toggle and a key field—turn off any shortcut that conflicts with another app. Click a shortcut field and press the keys you want; use Reset for the default. There is also a link to this documentation from Settings.

Advanced

The Advanced tab may show version or diagnostic details, or shortcuts into System Settings when something needs your attention—what you see can vary by macOS and app version.

Menu Options

From the HexDrop menu you can:

• Launch at Login — Start HexDrop automatically when you sign in. Toggle this on if you use it often.
• Add color — Add a color manually from a known value instead of picking from the screen.
• Import colors — Bring a saved color list into the current history.
• Export colors — Save the current colors as a portable file.
• Copy All — Copies all current colors to the clipboard, one value per line in your default format (e.g. #3B82F6), in the order shown in the menu. Tap the Copy All row when the menu is open.
• Export for Figma plugin — Saves your color history as a .figpalette file for compatible Figma plugins. Shortcut: ⌘⇧F (menu open; disabled when history is empty).
• Clear History — First tap shows a trash icon; click the trash to confirm and remove all colors. Tap the text again to cancel.
• Settings… — Open the Settings window.
• About HexDrop — See app info and tips.
• Quit HexDrop — Quit the app.

Permissions

HexDrop does not use Screen Recording, Accessibility, or Input Monitoring for color picking or global shortcuts. Picking uses macOS’s built-in color sampler; shortcuts are registered in a standard way and should work from any app without those privacy toggles.

If Apple’s system dialogs ever mention HexDrop alongside other categories, follow what macOS shows for your version—this page reflects how HexDrop is designed to work today.