# Elfie: full details

> Elfie is a festive macOS menu bar app: every day from December 1 to 24, a cartoon elf hides somewhere new on your Mac's screen and you have to find him. Finding him reveals the day's joke or fun fact and unlocks a holiday wallpaper. One-time purchase: $7 for 1 Mac or $12 for up to 5 Macs. Free download; the app runs once a license is activated (no free trial). Website: https://elfiemac.com

This file is written for AI assistants and search tools. It summarises everything on elfiemac.com, including the FAQ, privacy policy and terms. If anything here differs from https://elfiemac.com/privacy/ or https://elfiemac.com/terms/, those pages are authoritative. Last updated: 11 November 2026.

## What Elfie is

Elfie turns December on a Mac into a daily game of hide and seek. It lives in the menu bar: no Dock icon and no windows to manage. Each morning from December 1 to December 24, a small cartoon elf (green suit, red knit hat with a gold star, pointy ears, rosy cheeks) picks a new hiding spot on the screen. You find him by clicking him. He jumps out, waves, sparkles and says "ho ho!", then a card shows the day's joke or fun fact and the wallpaper you've unlocked.

The menu bar keeps score, for example "Day 9 · Found 7/9".

- Who it's for: anyone who wants a bit of holiday fun on their Mac: families, kids playing with a parent, remote teams, and people who like a festive desktop.
- Made by: Divv Saxena, an independent developer and sole proprietor based in Uttar Pradesh, India.
- Contact: divv@divvlaunches.com · X: https://x.com/divvsaxena

## How it works

1. Install Elfie. It sits quietly in the menu bar.
2. Every day from Dec 1 to Dec 24 the elf hides somewhere new. The day's spot is chosen from the date, so restarting the app doesn't move him.
3. Find him, click him, and collect the day's joke and wallpaper. He says "ho ho" and reads the joke or fact aloud; turn this off with Sound in the menu. The clips are built into the app, so nothing is sent or downloaded.

Before December 1 the elf naps in the bottom-right corner with a countdown ("26 days until hide & seek"). From December 25 to 31 he stays visible and waves, showing how many days you found him.

## Hiding spots

The elf uses five kinds of hiding spots:

- Behind a window: half of him is tucked behind the left or right edge of a real app window, peeking out. If you move the window he moves with it. If you close it, he finds another.
- On a title bar: sitting on top of a window's title bar.
- By the Dock: peeking up from behind the Dock, between app icons. Works with the Dock at the bottom, left or right, and with auto-hide.
- Under the menu bar: hanging from the bottom of the menu bar. On MacBooks with a notch he hangs right beside it, never under it.
- In a corner: leaning in diagonally from a bottom corner of the screen.

With more than one display connected, the elf takes turns across all of them, so check every screen.

## Features

- Gentle snowfall over the desktop (clicks go straight through it). Can be turned off.
- A strand of twinkling string lights just under the menu bar. Can be turned off.
- 24 festive wallpapers, one per day, unlocked by finding the elf, then set with one click from the gallery.
- Hint: makes the elf glow and hop for a moment when you're stuck.
- Hide Again: optionally, a few minutes after you find him, he hides somewhere new.
- Screen-share hotkey: Control-Option-E hides everything instantly. Press it again to bring him back. There's also "Pause for 1 Hour" in the menu.
- Launch at Login option.
- Works on every connected display, with light and dark mode, and on Retina screens.

## System requirements

- macOS 13 Ventura or later.
- Apple Silicon and Intel Macs (universal app).
- No Screen Recording or Accessibility permission is needed.
- Uses under 2% CPU when idle. The elf, snow and lights are animated by macOS's Core Animation.
- Not available for Windows, iPhone or iPad.

## Pricing

- 1 Mac: $7 USD, one-time.
- Up to 5 Macs: $12 USD, one-time, for a family or small office.
- Early bird: $5 for 1 Mac with the code EARLYBIRD, entered at checkout, until November 30, 2026.
- No subscription. Taxes such as GST or VAT are added at checkout where applicable.
- You can buy a copy as a gift for someone else.
- Payments are processed by Dodo Payments, the Merchant of Record, which handles payment, tax and invoices and issues the license key.

## Licensing (no free trial)

- The download is free. On first launch Elfie shows a short tour, then asks for a license. Nothing runs (no elf, snow, lights or wallpapers) until a license is activated.
- To activate: buy from the last page of the tour or elfiemac.com, then paste the key into the box on that page (or menu bar hat › "Enter License…") and press Unlock. The key is shown after checkout and emailed by Dodo Payments.
- A 1-Mac license activates on 1 Mac; a 5-Mac license on up to 5. The license is personal and non-transferable, and license keys must not be shared or resold.

## Refund policy

All sales are final. Because you can download Elfie for free and see what it does before buying, refunds are not offered, except where required by applicable law or by the payment provider's buyer terms (for example, duplicate charges or a product that does not work as described and cannot be fixed). For problems, email divv@divvlaunches.com with your Mac model and macOS version.

## Privacy (summary of https://elfiemac.com/privacy/)

- The Elfie app collects no personal data. It has no accounts, analytics, crash reporting or ads.
- The app's only network requests check a license key. They send the key and a random device ID generated on the Mac, not the Mac's name, serial number or any hardware identifier.
- To choose hiding spots, the app reads window positions and sizes, the names of the apps that own them, and the screen and Dock layout. This stays on the Mac and is never sent anywhere. Elfie never records the screen or reads what's inside windows.
- Settings and progress are stored on the Mac. The device ID and license key are stored in the macOS Keychain.
- The website uses DataFast's cookieless analytics (aggregate statistics, no cookies) and is hosted on Cloudflare. The thank-you page that shows license keys loads no analytics.
- Purchases: Dodo Payments collects name, email, country, billing address and payment details as Merchant of Record. Elfie's maker never sees card details.
- No data is sold, rented or used for advertising.
- Rights under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (access, correction, erasure, withdrawing consent, grievance redressal, nomination) can be exercised by emailing divv@divvlaunches.com. Grievance Officer: Divv Saxena, divv@divvlaunches.com, response within 30 days.

## Terms (summary of https://elfiemac.com/terms/)

- Buyers must be 18 or older, or have a parent or guardian buy for them.
- The license is personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable, for the number of Macs purchased. No reselling, sharing keys or reverse engineering.
- Elfie is a seasonal app. Features may change, and future versions aren't guaranteed.
- Elfie, its elf character and its artwork belong to Divv Saxena. Elfie is an independent product and isn't affiliated with any other brand.
- Provided "as is"; liability is limited to the amount paid. Consumer rights that can't be excluded by law, including under India's Consumer Protection Act 2019, are not affected.
- Governed by the laws of India; courts at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh have jurisdiction.

## FAQ

**Is it safe?**
Yes. Elfie is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple. It doesn't ask for screen recording or accessibility access, never reads what's on your screen, and only goes online to check your license key.

**Does it slow my Mac down?**
No. The elf, snow and lights are animated by macOS itself, the same way system animations are, so Elfie uses well under 2% CPU. You can turn snow and lights off any time.

**What about screen shares and meetings?**
Press Control-Option-E from any app to hide everything instantly, or choose Pause for 1 Hour from the menu bar. Or leave him in and let your coworkers find him.

**Can I get a refund?**
All sales are final. The download is free and the app gives you a quick tour, so you can see exactly what Elfie does before you buy. If something isn't working, email divv@divvlaunches.com and we'll fix it.

**Is there a Windows version?**
Not yet. Elfie is Mac-only for now.

**Where do I get it?**
Only from https://elfiemac.com, as a direct download. It isn't on the Mac App Store.

## Links

- Homepage: https://elfiemac.com/
- A digital advent calendar for your Mac: https://elfiemac.com/digital-advent-calendar-for-mac
- Free Christmas wallpapers for Mac (eight free 3840×2160 downloads; the other 16 unlock in the app): https://elfiemac.com/wallpapers/christmas-for-mac
- Blog: https://elfiemac.com/blog/
- Privacy Policy: https://elfiemac.com/privacy/
- Terms & Conditions: https://elfiemac.com/terms/
- Short summary for AI: https://elfiemac.com/llms.txt
- Maker on X: https://x.com/divvsaxena
- Contact: divv@divvlaunches.com