Does Raycast collect data in 2026?

Raycast's data collection is limited and largely controllable by the user. Per Raycast's privacy policy, the app collects anonymous usage analytics and crash reports by default, and cloud-based features like sync and Raycast AI only transmit data when you opt in by signing in or enabling them. The authoritative reference is raycast.com/privacy.

What does Raycast NOT collect?

Local search and launcher activity stay on your Mac. Clipboard history on the free tier is stored locally, and local file paths indexed by Raycast for launching apps and files are not sent to Raycast servers as a default behavior. For exact current specifics, verify at raycast.com/privacy.

What happens to my AI prompts in Raycast?

When you use Raycast AI, your prompt is forwarded to the underlying model provider (such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google) to generate the response. If you use BYOK (bring your own key), the request goes directly to your chosen provider under your account. Either way, the provider's own data policies apply.

Is Raycast Cloud Sync encrypted?

Cloud Sync is a Pro feature that is scoped to your Raycast account and, per Raycast's privacy policy, stored with encryption at rest. It is opt-in: free users do not sync at all, and Pro users can choose what to sync. Always verify current specifics at raycast.com/privacy.

How do I turn off Raycast telemetry?

Open Raycast Settings, go to the Advanced tab, and look for the analytics or crash reporting toggles. You can disable anonymous usage analytics from there. Signing out of your Raycast account also stops cloud-based features like Sync from transmitting.

Are third-party Raycast extensions safe?

Community extensions are open source and reviewed, but they are not audited to the same level as Raycast's first-party code. An extension you install may request permissions (network, clipboard, filesystem) and handle your data under its own logic. Treat extensions like any third-party macOS app and review before installing sensitive ones.

What GDPR and CCPA rights do I have with Raycast?

Raycast's privacy policy outlines standard rights for users in the EU and California, including access, rectification, deletion, and opt-out of certain processing. Requests are typically handled through their support channels. The authoritative steps are listed at raycast.com/privacy.

Does Raycast Collect Data? A Privacy Breakdown for 2026

Published April 23, 2026 • 8 min read

Short answer: Raycast's data collection is limited, largely user-controllable, and governed by their public privacy policy at raycast.com/privacy. The app uses minimal default telemetry (anonymous usage analytics and crash reports), and cloud features like Sync and Raycast AI are opt-in — they only transmit data once you sign in and enable them. Local launcher activity stays on your Mac.

Privacy questions about launcher apps are fair. A launcher sits in front of everything you do on your Mac — your files, your clipboard, your apps, your text. It's reasonable to want to know exactly what leaves your machine and what stays on it before you install or upgrade. This article walks through what Raycast collects, what it explicitly doesn't, how AI prompts are handled, and how to turn telemetry off in 2026.

Where specifics matter, the authoritative source is Raycast's own privacy policy. This guide summarizes the structure and points you to the right place to verify. If you're new to the product, start with what Raycast actually does, and for the broader safety picture see our Raycast safety breakdown for 2026.

The Short Answer

Raycast is a local-first launcher. Your commands, file searches, and app launches happen on your Mac. The app does send a small amount of telemetry by default — anonymous usage analytics and crash reports — which is standard practice for shipping reliable desktop software. Anything that depends on the cloud (AI, Sync, Notes syncing, shared Team commands) is Pro-tier and opt-in: it doesn't transmit until you sign in and enable it.

Raycast publishes a plain-English privacy policy at raycast.com/privacy that covers what's collected, why, how long it's retained, and how to exercise your rights. Because specifics can change, always cross-check any specific claim there directly.

What Raycast Collects by Default

Out of the box, Raycast's telemetry footprint is deliberately small. Per Raycast's privacy policy, the app collects:

Anonymous usage analytics — aggregated metrics about which features are used and how often, without tying events to your identity. This is the data product teams use to prioritize improvements.
Crash reports — when the app crashes, a diagnostic report helps the team fix the bug. These typically include stack traces and environment details, not your content.
Basic account data (if signed in) — email and account identifiers for Pro users, used for billing and to associate your Sync data with your account.

The exact fields, retention windows, and sub-processors are listed in the policy itself. [Verify at raycast.com/privacy] for the current specifics before relying on any one detail here.

What Raycast Does NOT Collect

Just as important as what's collected is what stays local. Based on the product's design and privacy policy, the following categories are handled on-device rather than sent to Raycast servers by default:

Clipboard history content on the free tier is stored locally. If you enable Pro Cloud Sync for clipboard, that explicitly opts in to syncing it to your account.
Local file paths and indexed file metadata used to power file search are queried locally. Raycast doesn't need to send your file tree to a server to let you launch things.
Command inputs and search queries typed into the launcher bar are handled locally unless they explicitly trigger a cloud feature (like Raycast AI).
Your notes, snippets, and quicklinks live locally on free; they only hit Raycast's servers if you're a Pro user with Sync enabled.

The rule of thumb: anything that needs a server to work (AI, Sync, Teams sharing) transmits data. Anything that can work locally does work locally.

AI Queries — What Gets Sent to OpenAI / Anthropic

Raycast AI is the feature with the broadest data-flow footprint, because by definition it has to send your prompt somewhere to generate a response. There are two modes that matter:

Built-in Raycast AI (Pro)

When you use Raycast AI with a Pro subscription, your prompt is routed through Raycast's infrastructure to the underlying model provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others depending on the model you picked). Raycast acts as an intermediary so you don't need individual accounts with every provider. The provider processes the prompt to generate a response under whatever terms Raycast has negotiated for enterprise API use.

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

Some users prefer to plug in their own API key for OpenAI, Anthropic, or another provider. In that setup, the request goes directly from Raycast to the provider under your account, subject to that provider's data retention and training policies. For a practical tour of how AI features integrate, see our Raycast AI Commands guide.

Either way, the content of the prompt itself travels to a model provider to be answered. If you paste sensitive data into an AI Command, treat it as you would any cloud AI service. For model-provider specifics, refer to OpenAI's and Anthropic's API policies alongside Raycast's.

Cloud Sync Data Handling

Cloud Sync is a Pro-only feature that mirrors your Raycast configuration — snippets, quicklinks, notes, hotkeys, extensions list, preferences — across every Mac signed into your account. Per Raycast's privacy policy, synced data is scoped to your Raycast account and stored with encryption at rest on their infrastructure. Transport happens over HTTPS/TLS.

Free users don't sync at all; their configuration stays on each device. Pro users can still choose which categories to sync. If you prefer to keep certain content local even on Pro, you can leave those categories off. [Verify at raycast.com/privacy] for the latest list of what's sync-eligible and the exact encryption model.

How to Turn Off Telemetry

If you'd rather send nothing beyond what's strictly required for the features you use, Raycast exposes the toggles directly in Settings:

Open Raycast, press ⌘ , to open Settings.
Go to the Advanced tab.
Disable the analytics and crash reporting toggles.
If you don't want any cloud features active, sign out of your Raycast account from the Account tab. That stops Sync and Raycast AI from transmitting.

The exact toggle labels can shift between releases. If a setting looks different in your version, check Raycast's in-app help or the privacy policy for the current wording.

Third-Party Extensions Risk

Raycast's extension Store is one of the product's strongest features, but it's worth understanding the trust model. First-party code (the launcher itself, built-in commands, Raycast AI) is built and shipped by the Raycast team. Third-party extensions are authored by the community. They're open source and reviewed before being listed, but they aren't audited to the same depth as Raycast's own code.

An extension can request permissions — network access, clipboard access, filesystem access — and handle your data under its own logic. Before installing an extension that will touch sensitive material (a password-manager bridge, an email client extension, anything that reads from the clipboard), skim the source on the raycast/extensions repo and treat it like any third-party macOS tool you'd consider. The risk is the same class as downloading any niche app.

GDPR / CCPA Rights

Raycast's privacy policy outlines the standard rights available to users under GDPR (EU) and CCPA (California), and typically extends similar options to users in other jurisdictions. In practice, that includes:

Right of access — request a copy of the personal data associated with your account.
Right to rectification — correct data that's inaccurate.
Right to erasure — delete your account and associated data.
Right to opt out — disable analytics or object to certain processing.

Requests are typically handled through Raycast's support or a dedicated privacy contact listed in the policy. The authoritative process, current contact email, and response-time commitment live at raycast.com/privacy — go there rather than relying on a summary when you actually need to file something.

FAQ

Does Raycast sell my data?

Raycast's privacy policy addresses this directly — verify the current language at raycast.com/privacy. Their published stance is that they do not sell personal data to advertisers, and the business model is subscription revenue from Pro and Teams, not data sales.

Is Raycast AI private?

Your prompt is processed by a model provider to generate the response — that's inherent to how AI works. Raycast does not use your prompts to train its own models, and the major providers typically do not train on API traffic by default. Refer to each provider's policy for details.

Can I use Raycast fully offline?

Most core features — app launching, file search, calculator, snippets, window management, clipboard history (free tier), extensions that don't call the internet — work offline. Cloud features (AI, Sync, any extension that pings a web API) need a connection.

Does Raycast have access to my keystrokes?

Raycast reads what you type into its own command bar, not your system-wide keystrokes. It requires standard macOS permissions (accessibility, full disk access) for specific features, and those permissions are granted per-feature via system prompts you can revoke in System Settings.

Where is my data stored geographically?

For EU users in particular, data residency specifics (cloud provider, region) are listed in Raycast's privacy policy. [Verify at raycast.com/privacy] for current sub-processor details.

Can I delete my Raycast account?

Yes. Account deletion is available through account settings or by contacting support, and triggers deletion of associated synced data under Raycast's retention policies.

Is Raycast HIPAA or SOC 2 compliant?

For enterprise and regulated-industry questions about certifications, check Raycast's Teams-plan documentation or contact their sales/security team directly. Don't assume based on a summary article like this one.

The bottom line

Raycast's privacy posture in 2026 is what you'd want from a serious Mac productivity tool: local-first by design, transparent about what telemetry it collects, honest about the fact that cloud features transmit data, and equipped with the standard controls to turn things off. Nothing in this space is perfect, but compared to a typical SaaS app, Raycast's footprint is clearly on the lighter end.

If you're comfortable with the trade-offs and want to try the Pro features — AI, Sync, unlimited notes — you can claim the 80% discount and free 14-day trial, or see the current deal on our homepage. Either way, start by reading Raycast's privacy policy in full so you're making the decision with the source document, not a summary.