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App Filtering

Focus your timeline on specific applications. Filter by one or multiple apps to quickly find what you're looking for.

Updated August 2026

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What Is App Filtering?

App Filtering lets you narrow your timeline to show only screenshots from specific applications. Looking for something you did in Figma? Filter to Figma and scroll through just those moments. Need to find that Slack conversation? Filter to Slack and your timeline becomes a focused history of just that app.

Note
App Filtering is different from App Exclusions. Filtering is for viewing and navigation. It doesn't affect what Retrace records. Exclusions prevent apps from being recorded at all.

Opening the App Filter

  1. Open the Retrace timeline
  2. Click the grid button in the filter-controls row at the top-right of the filmstrip
  3. Or press ⌘ + P

A popover will appear showing all applications that appear in your timeline, sorted by how many screenshots contain each app.

Filtering to a Single App

  1. Open the App Filter popover
  2. Click on an app to select it
  3. Your timeline immediately filters to show only that app

Selected apps display a blue checkmark. The grid button also highlights blue when an app filter is active.

Filtering to Multiple Apps

Need to see activity across a few apps? Retrace supports multi-select filtering.

  1. Open the App Filter popover
  2. Click on your first app
  3. Click on additional apps to add them to your filter
  4. All selected apps show checkmarks

When multiple apps are selected, Retrace shows any screenshot that contains any of the selected apps. This union behavior makes it easy to track workflows across related apps, like filtering to both "VS Code" and "Terminal" when debugging.

Tip
Selected apps automatically move to the top of the list. This makes it easy to see what's currently active and toggle apps on and off.

Searching for Apps

If you have many applications in your timeline, use the search bar at the top of the popover:

  1. Open the App Filter popover
  2. Start typing in the search field
  3. The list filters to show matching apps
  4. Click an app or use keyboard navigation to select

Keyboard Navigation

The App Filter fully supports keyboard navigation:

KeyAction
↑ / ↓Move through the app list
EnterToggle the highlighted app
Type any letterSearch for apps by name

Understanding the App List

Each row in the App Filter shows:

  • App icon: The application's icon for easy identification
  • App name: The name of the application
  • Snapshot count: How many screenshots contain this app
  • Checkmark: Appears when the app is selected for filtering

The "All Apps" option at the top of the list removes the app filter while keeping your other filters in place.

Clearing the App Filter

To remove only the app filter:

  • Click Clear in the App Filter popover header
  • Click All Apps at the top of the app list

Your search, time, label, and note filters stay in place.

Tip
To clear every active filter at once, press ⌘ + U.

Combining Filters

App filtering works alongside other filters for powerful navigation:

  1. Filter to "Safari" to see only browser activity
  2. Use Time Filtering to jump to yesterday
  3. Use Text Search to find specific content

All filters work together. Filtering to "Safari", then searching for "invoice" will find only Safari screenshots containing that word.

Note
When filters are active, the timeline shows only matching content. Use ⌘ + U to quickly clear all filters and return to your full timeline.

Next Steps