Zazu For Mac

Zazu is a minimalist utility designed as an open source alternative to Alfred to help you search your Mac and launch apps as fast as possible.

Moreover, Zazu is also cross-platform and plugin-based which means that you can use it with the pre-installed plugins or add new capabilities and features to match your workflow better.

To start using Zazu, you need to double-click it, and it will automatically install the default plugin package. You will be notified after the plugins are installed, and you can summon it using the ⌥ + SPACE command.

You can use the inbuilt package manager via the "install" keyword to search for plugins to add new functionality to Zazu. Also, if you don't find a plugin which suits your needs, Zazu enables you to make your own by following the Creating Plugins tutorial on the app's documentation page.

You can customize Zazu's behavior and looks by modifying its configuration file. Thus, you can change the default hotkey, the theme, configure the plugins you have installed, and choose if you want the app to open on your primary display or on the screen your mouse pointer is on.

Zazu also provides support for system commands via the default zazu-system plugin which allows you to restart, lock or shut down your Mac, as well as to activate the screensaver, to log out and to quickly empty the trash.

What's more, by default, Zazu works as an app launcher and will search for apps installed on your Mac; you have to use the "find" keyword to tell it you need to pinpoint a particular file.

Unfortunately, Zazu will not search within files as Spotlight does and you will have to use another desktop search tool if you need to find a document based on its contents.

To sum it all up, the Zazu app is a powerful multi-platform app launcher with desktop search capabilities, easily extendable using plugins, that checks all the right boxes for this particular software niche, and an excellent solution for macOS users who think that Spotlight is not customizable enough to fit their day to day workflow.