Is the macOS app signed and safe to open?

Yes. Every macOS build is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so it opens with a normal double-click — no right-click workarounds, no security warnings. It still runs entirely on your machine and never phones home.

Windows SmartScreen popped up. What do I do?

Click More info, then Run anyway. SmartScreen flags apps it has not seen widely downloaded yet; the warning clears on its own as more people install it. The app is tiny and runs locally — it never phones home.

Will it close apps with unsaved work?

Yes — everything closes; that is the point. Each app is asked to quit properly first, so your next launch is clean (no crash-recovery prompts), but anything still open a couple of seconds later is force-closed, unsaved work included. Save what matters before you fire it.

Is there a keyboard shortcut?

Not in the tray app yet. If you want a keystroke, install the cks command-line version (Homebrew on macOS, Scoop on Windows) and bind cks --yes to any hotkey with your operating system's shortcut tools. It does exactly what the button does.

Is it really free? What is the catch?

No catch. It is genuinely free, with no account and no ads. Anonymous usage statistics and crash reports help us improve it — nothing personal ever leaves your machine.

What data does the app collect?

Anonymous usage statistics and crash reports, used solely to improve the app: which features are used (for example, how many apps a sweep closed), the app version, operating system, and language — plus a crash report if the app itself crashes. Events carry a random install ID, never your name or anything about the apps, files, or windows on your machine. Nothing is sold or shared.

How do I uninstall it?

Quit it from the menu bar, then drag the app to the Trash (macOS), uninstall from Apps & Features (Windows), or remove the package (Linux). It leaves nothing lingering behind.

Hide Discord Messages While Streaming (2026)

Every streamer has seen the clip: someone alt-tabs out of the game and the whole internet reads their Discord. Donation alerts, browser tabs, file names on the desktop — anything alive on your machine is one misclick from being content. The fix is a 60-second pre-live ritual.

Short answer: turn on Discord Streamer Mode, silence OS notifications, disable the Discord overlay, and close everything except your stream stack — or one-click clear the desktop with Captain Kill Switch before you go live.

The pre-live checklist

Save and close everything. Not minimize — close. Minimized apps still fire notifications, still sit in the alt-tab list OBS’s window capture can land on, and still eat the RAM and CPU your game and encoder want. One click with a kill switch (below), or the manual loop in the Windows guide.
Then open only the stream stack: game, OBS, chat, music. Everything running has a reason to be on camera.
Silence the OS: Focus Assist / Do Not Disturb on, and check the notification source at the OS level — DND hides banners, but a bouncing Dock icon or badge still shows in a full-desktop capture.
Turn on Discord Streamer Mode (User Settings → Streamer Mode). It hides invite links, your connected accounts and personal info, and it can suppress Discord’s notifications and sounds outright. Set it to enable automatically when OBS is detected so you cannot forget it. Disable the Discord overlay too — the overlay is what puts messages on top of a fullscreen game. Details in Streamer Mode settings explained.
30-second capture check: preview each OBS scene before going live — especially display capture, which shows everything the checklist missed. See what alt-tab actually shows on stream.

Why closing beats hiding, specifically for streaming

Capture safety: a closed app cannot appear in any scene, ever. A hidden one can.
Performance: encoding + game is the heaviest thing most PCs do. Twenty background programs are frames you’re donating away — see what open programs actually cost.
Notification zero: apps that aren’t running can’t pop anything, DND or not.

Step 1 in one click

Captain Kill Switch sits in the system tray and closes every running app in one click — clean close request first, force floor about two seconds later, OS and session processes protected by an allowlist. Click it, watch the desktop empty, then launch your stream stack. Free on Windows, macOS, and Linux — a tiny native tray app of a few megabytes, the cheapest insurance on your rig.

The fine print streamers should like: it closes unsaved work too — by design, no dialogs to babysit. Save the clip project first, then sweep.

FAQ

Does Streamer Mode hide DMs on stream?

Streamer Mode can hide personal info and suppress Discord notifications, but it does not blank a Discord window you leave open under display capture. Close Discord (or keep it on a non-captured monitor) if you do not need it live.

How do I hide Discord overlay while streaming?

User Settings → Overlay → turn it off, and double-check in-game that the overlay hotkey is disabled. Full walkthrough: hide Discord overlay while streaming.

What should I close before going live?

Everything except game, OBS, chat, and music. Browser, Discord (unless required), editors, and launchers are the usual leaks — close-all checklist before going live.