What is Raycast on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
The Raycast launcher, plus its background process that runs extensions.
Raycast is a launcher and productivity app. 'Raycast Backend' is a Node.js process that Raycast uses to run extensions, and the com.raycast.macos services help with features like clipboard history and accessibility. Usage rises when extensions do work or the clipboard history is large.
- Category
- Third-party
- Made by
- Raycast
- Safe to quit:
- Yes
Shown in Activity Monitor as Raycast, Raycast Backend, com.raycast.macos.Accessibility, com.raycast.macos.Pasteboard
Why is Raycast using so much CPU or memory?
- Extensions running or refreshing in the background
- Large clipboard history
- AI features or file search
What to do
- 1Disable extensions you don't use, especially ones that refresh in the background
- 2Reduce clipboard history length in Raycast settings
- 3Quit and reopen Raycast
Safe to quit? Yes.
Safe to quit; your Raycast hotkeys stop working until you reopen it.
Related processes
Part of the Taskglass Process Library