DateDrop documentation
A tiny menu-bar app for dropping a perfectly formatted date and time anywhere. Tap a hotkey, pick a format and time zones, and copy or insert. This page walks through every part of it.
Installation
DateDrop comes three ways. The download from bendansby.com/apps/datedrop is a standard .dmg — open it and drag DateDrop.app to your Applications folder. The App Store version installs and updates the usual way. The Setapp version lives at setapp.com/apps/datedrop and installs through the Setapp client; no separate license key, no trial.
Requires macOS 13 Ventura or later. The direct-download build auto-updates via Sparkle; you can also check anytime via the ⋯ menu → Check for Updates…. The App Store and Setapp builds update through their own channels. See License for the differences between the three.
The hotkey
DateDrop lives in the menu bar and is summoned with a global hotkey — ⌃⇧⌘D by default. Press it from anywhere and the picker pops up right where you're working. Press it again, or Esc, to dismiss. You can rebind it in Preferences → Keyboard Shortcut.
The popover
The picker is a compact popover anchored to the menu-bar icon. At the top: a Close button, and a ⋯ (More options) menu with Preferences, Check for Updates, and the license items. The popover can also be detached into a floating window — pick Detach as window from the ⋯ menu, and Move to menu bar to dock it back.
Date & time
By default DateDrop drops the current moment. You can also set a specific Date and Time in the When section — useful for "what time is the 3pm call in Tokyo?" planning, or for stamping a fixed date rather than now.
Formats
Pick how the date reads from the Format menu:
| Format | Looks like |
|---|---|
| Long | January 5, 2026 at 3:30 PM |
| Medium | Jan 5, 2026, 3:30 PM |
| Short | 1/5/26, 3:30 PM |
| Date Only / Time Only | just the date, or just the time |
| Day of Week | Monday |
| ISO 8601 | 2026-01-05T15:30:00Z |
| RFC 2822 | Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:30:00 +0000 |
| Unix Timestamp | 1767627000 |
| Custom… | your own format string |
The Preview shows exactly what will be copied before you commit. Custom… takes a standard date-format pattern (the yyyy-MM-dd family) so you can build whatever layout you need.
24-hour time
Preferences → Formatting → Use 24-hour time switches the clock between 12- and 24-hour. It affects Long, Medium, Short, Day of Week, and Time Only. ISO 8601, RFC 2822, Unix Timestamp, and Custom keep their canonical formats — those are defined by a standard, so DateDrop never bends them.
Time zones & favorites
DateDrop can render the same moment across several time zones at once. Add zones with Add time zone, and the picker shows each one's local time. When more than one zone is selected, the Inline / Lines toggle controls whether they're joined on one line or stacked.
Favorites
Star the zones you use most in Preferences → Favorite Time Zones. Favorites appear as one-click chips in the popover, so adding "London" or "Tokyo" to a drop is a single tap. Turn on Show starred only to hide the long list and keep just your favorites.
Copy vs. Insert
Two ways to get the formatted string out:
- Copy puts the string on the clipboard — paste it yourself with ⌘V. A brief Copied confirmation appears.
- Insert types the string straight into whatever app is in front, no pasting needed. This is the fastest path when you're mid-sentence somewhere.
Accessibility
Insert needs Accessibility permission, because it works by synthesizing a paste into the front app. The first time you use Insert, DateDrop explains why and offers an Open System Settings button — add DateDrop under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, enable it, and try again. Copy needs no permission at all.
Menu bar
Preferences → Menu Bar → Show icon in menu bar toggles the icon. If you hide it, re-open DateDrop from Finder to get back to Preferences. The hotkey keeps working whether or not the icon is shown.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌃⇧⌘D | Show / hide the picker (default — rebindable) |
| Esc | Dismiss the popover |
| ⌘V | Paste a copied string into the front app |
Preferences → Keyboard Shortcut rebinds the summon hotkey. Each shortcut needs at least one modifier (⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ⌘); a Reset chip restores the default.
Languages
DateDrop is localized into English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Português (Brasil), Українська, Русский, and 简体中文. It picks the right language automatically based on your System Settings → General → Language & Region preferences.
To pin DateDrop to a specific language without changing system preferences, open System Settings → General → Language & Region → Applications, click the + button, and pick DateDrop.
License
DateDrop ships through three channels — pick the one that fits how you like to pay for software:
- Direct download. Every feature works from the first launch — no locked controls. After a 7-day grace period, an unlicensed copy shows a brief license reminder every tenth time you open the picker; a one-time license clears it for good. Buy via the ⋯ menu → Buy License…; activate via Enter License…. Activation needs the internet briefly, then works offline; DateDrop revalidates quietly in the background so refunded or revoked keys stop working.
- App Store. Paid once through Apple's standard pipeline — no separate license key. Offers Copy only (no Insert, per Apple's guidelines).
- Setapp. Subscribe to DateDrop directly at setapp.com/apps/datedrop. No separate license key; Setapp delivers updates automatically. Includes Insert, like the direct-download build.