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KeyDate is an unsigned app (outside the App Store). On first launch, macOS blocks it and shows an alert. Here's exactly what to do:

1. In the alert, click Done — do not click "Move to Trash"!
2. Open System Settings and search for Gatekeeper in the search bar
3. Under Privacy & Security, look for the message "KeyDate was blocked to protect your Mac"
4. Click Open Anyway, then confirm in the dialog

This step is only required once. The app will open normally on all subsequent launches.

On macOS Sonoma and Sequoia, the menu bar may hide icons when it's full. Try holding ⌘ Cmd and dragging icons to reorganize them. You can also reduce the number of visible icons through the preferences of other apps.

Text triggers require Accessibility access. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and grant KeyDate permission. In apps that don't support text substitution (terminals, certain editors), use the global keyboard shortcut instead — it works everywhere without exception.

Yes, absolutely. dts, dtl, and dt are simply the default abbreviations — you can replace them with any text string: date, //d, mtg, ;d… Go to Preferences → Formats, click the Trigger field for a format, and type whatever you like. Each format has its own independent trigger.

Click the KeyDate icon in the menu bar → Preferences… → Formats tab. For each format you can edit: the date template (e.g. MM/dd/yyyy), the text trigger (the abbreviation to type), and the keyboard shortcut. You can also add or remove formats as needed. Changes take effect immediately.

In Preferences → Formats, click the Shortcut field for a format, then press the key combination you want. No combination is forced — you choose freely, and each format can have its own. The shortcut works in all apps, even those where text triggers don't. Just make sure the combination isn't already in use by macOS or another app.

Yes, you can enable this option in Preferences → General → Launch at Login. KeyDate will then be added to macOS login items and start automatically when you log in.

KeyDate requires macOS 13 Ventura or later. The app is compatible with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel. It is not available for iOS or iPadOS.