Raycast Search Screenshots vs DejaShot: what each reads

If you already use Raycast, you may not need another app to search your screenshots. Its Search Screenshots command reads the text in them on your Mac, filters by words, file name and date, and costs nothing on Raycast’s free plan. This page sets it next to DejaShot, so you can tell whether the differences matter to you.

I checked Raycast’s manual and its pricing page on 2 October 2026, and every claim about Raycast below comes from them. Raycast ships updates often, so check its manual for anything you rely on. For the wider picture, see the guide to searching the text in screenshots and every way to search your screenshots on a Mac.

What does Raycast’s Search Screenshots do?

Raycast describes itself as a collection of productivity tools inside an extendable launcher: you open its search bar with a keyboard shortcut and run commands from it. Search Screenshots is one of those commands. Its manual says it lets you “find, preview, and reuse any screenshot or screen recording on your computer without leaving Raycast”, and that Raycast reads your screenshots “with on-device OCR, so you can search by what’s in an image, not just the filename.” It isn’t new. Raycast’s changelog added full text search to the command in May 2022.

You type free text, and three filters narrow it:

• name: matches the file name, as in name:invoice.
• text: matches the words recognised in the image, as in text:invoice number.
• date: matches when it was captured, in plain words, as in date:yesterday or date:last week.

By default it looks in the system screenshot location, CleanShot X’s folder and the Desktop, and you can add more folders in its settings. An Include All Media switch widens that to every image and video in those folders. Text recognition has a Fast mode, the default, and an Accurate mode that the manual says catches more text but uses more CPU. There’s a Copy Text from Image action, and a separate Paste Latest Screenshot command that pastes your newest screenshot into the app in front without opening the full view.

For file access, the manual asks for Full Disk Access, or at minimum access to Desktop, Documents and Downloads.

How do Raycast and DejaShot compare?

Choose Raycast if…

• You already use Raycast. The command is already on your Mac, and you search screenshots from the same bar you use for everything else.
• You want it free. Raycast’s pricing page says the free plan covers all built-in extensions, and the manual documents Search Screenshots as part of Raycast, with its own settings page.
• You also search screen recordings, or want every image in a folder searchable. DejaShot doesn’t read recordings.
• You often paste the screenshot you just took into another app. Paste Latest Screenshot does that in one step.
• You use Windows as well as a Mac.
• You remember the words in the screenshot, or roughly when you took it. text: and date: cover both.

Choose DejaShot if…

• You don’t use Raycast and don’t want a launcher just for this.
• You remember the app and not the words. For screenshots taken while it’s running, DejaShot notes which app and window were in front, so app:figma or “figma pricing” finds the one you captured in Figma even if the word Figma isn’t in it. Treat that as a strong hint, not a certainty. Screenshots from before you installed it have their text but no app.
• You want a library to browse, not only a search: a timeline by day with a line on what each day was mostly about, and Smart Collections such as Receipts and Code.
• You want to rename screenshots in bulk from their date, app or text, with Undo, or export a search as files or as Markdown with each screenshot’s text.
• You want some apps left out. Screenshots taken while an excluded app, such as a password manager, is in front aren’t read or kept.
• You’d rather grant access folder by folder. DejaShot reads only the folders you choose.

Neither list makes one of them better. Raycast’s command is a strong free search for the words in your screenshots, inside a tool you may already use for everything else. DejaShot is a whole app for one job, built around where a screenshot came from as well as what it says.

Does Raycast record which app a screenshot came from?

Its manual doesn’t say so. The filters it lists are file name, recognised text and capture date, and none of the settings it describes mention the app or the window. If that changes, this section will be out of date, so check the manual before you decide on this point alone.

macOS doesn’t record it either. A screenshot’s file name holds the date and time, and the attributes macOS 26.6 lists for Spotlight include a flag that marks a file as a screen capture and nothing that names the app. That information exists only at the moment you press the shortcut. DejaShot notes it then, for screenshots taken while it’s running, which is also why it can’t add an app to screenshots you took before you installed it.

Can you use both?

Yes. Both read screenshot files where they are, so they can look at the same Desktop or screenshot folder side by side. One way to split the work: Raycast for the screenshot you took ten minutes ago, pasted with Paste Latest Screenshot, and DejaShot for the one from March you remember by the app it came from. DejaShot has no Raycast integration, so the two don’t share a search.

If you take screenshots with CleanShot X, both can read its folder: Raycast does by default, and DejaShot does once you add the folder. The CleanShot X comparison covers that pairing, and Spotlight and Live Text compared with DejaShot covers what macOS does for free. If you capture with ScreenFloat, there’s a ScreenFloat comparison too.

What does each cost?

Raycast is free for personal use, and its pricing page says the free plan covers all built-in extensions. Raycast Pro, which adds Raycast AI, cloud sync and more, is $10 a month or $96 a year, as of 2 October 2026. Nothing in the manual ties Search Screenshots to Pro. DejaShot is a one-time purchase for one Mac. The current price is always on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Raycast’s Search Screenshots free?

Raycast is free for personal use, and its pricing page says the free plan covers all built-in extensions. Search Screenshots is documented in Raycast’s own manual, and nothing there ties it to Raycast Pro, as of 2 October 2026.

Does Raycast record which app a screenshot came from?

Its manual doesn’t describe it. The filters it lists are file name, recognised text and capture date. DejaShot notes the app, and with the optional Accessibility permission the window title, for screenshots taken while it’s running.

Does DejaShot work with Raycast?

No. There’s no Raycast extension for DejaShot, and they don’t share a search. They’re separate apps, and both can read the same screenshot folders.

Should I pay for DejaShot if Raycast is free?

If Raycast’s text and date filters find what you need, no. DejaShot is worth it when you want the app each new screenshot came from, a library and timeline to browse, bulk renames, or when you don’t use Raycast. DejaShot is a one-time purchase for one Mac. The current price is always on the pricing page.