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Dedication: The clipboard is the unifying concept behind cut, copy, and paste. The individual responsible for cut, copy, and paste, Larry Tesler, passed away this month. Larry wrote the preface to my book, Object-Oriented Programming for the Macintosh, and was the person who hired me at Apple so many, many years ago. The computing world lost an important pioneer, and this blog post is dedicated to his memory. You can read more about Larry in The New York Times and the Washington Post.
On the Mac, you cannot view or clear the Clipboard. Select the data that you want to copy. On the Standard toolbar, click Copy. Click the location where you want to paste the data. On the Standard toolbar, click Paste. The Paste Options button that appears in your document is temporary. You can click it to change the formatting of the pasted. Download Clipboard History for Chrome - Improve your productivity while you work online with the help of this simple yet effective clipboard manager specifically designed for Chrome. Clipboard History For Mac Free Download - Download latest version of Clipboard History 1.3.1 Mac App Copy and paste multiple items at TheMacApps.
When it was first released in 1984, one of the defining features of the Macintosh user interface was the clipboard. The clipboard was great! You could copy any kind of data to it and then later paste that data into a new location. You could put text, graphics and entire documents or folders on the clipboard. Later on, you could put video clips, equations, spreadsheets and more on it. While the Mac was not the first computer with a clipboard—the Apple Lisa also had one—the Mac made the clipboard a widely known user interface (UI) concept.
There were, however, a couple of issues with the Mac clipboard. First, it only stored one piece of information at a time. Copy something else to the clipboard, and whatever was there before got removed. Second, it was invisible. The only way you could see what was on the clipboard was to paste the clipboard’s contents into a document. Lastly, the clipboard worked great on a single Mac, but there wasn’t any way to get the clipboard information to another Mac. Over the years, a variety of apps and extensions have tried to solve these issues, but none really caught on because none were as simple to use as the clipboard itself.
The Parallels engineers decided to solve these issues—the result is the new Clipboard History tool in Parallels® Toolbox for Mac. In this blog post, I’ll show you how to use this new tool. If you’re like me, you’ll find it so useful that you’ll set it to start up whenever you turn on your Mac.
The Clipboard History tool is one of forty tools in Parallels Toolbox for Mac (see Figure 1).
When running, it has a separate icon in the Mac menu bar—and when it’s open, its window shows you items that have been placed on the clipboard. (Figure 2)
Video 1 (3 minutes) introduces the Clipboard History tool and shows its use on a single Mac:
Video 2 (1 minute 30 seconds) shows how Apple’s Handoff works with the Clipboard History tool on two Mac devices.
Even though there is no Parallels Toolbox for the iPad, the Clipboard History tool can work with an iPad on the same network as your Mac. Video 3 (1 minute 30 seconds) shows an example of this:
I hope these examples show you the power of Parallels Toolbox. If you’re a subscriber of a recent version of Parallels Desktop™ for Mac, Parallels Toolbox is available to you at no charge. If you don’t have Parallels Desktop, you can download a free 7-day trial of Parallels Toolbox.
We had previously covered some of the best clipboard managers for Android. Today, it’s time for macOS. Since macOS doesn’t have an in-built clipboard manager, you’d need a third-party tool. Don’t spend your time searching among thousands of tools. We’ve prepared a list of the best clipboard manager for Mac.
We tested around 20 Mac apps that offered clipboard management. Some of them were impressive, some were not. At the end of the day, we have come down to 7 best clipboard managers for Mac, offering various levels of features and productivity. We will start with the simple ones!
Read: How to Copy Unselectable Text on Your Screen
Best Clipboard Managers for Mac
#1 CopyClip
Just so you know, CopyClip is my personal favorite when it comes to clipboard managers. It comes from FIPLAB, a popular developer of utility software.
For one, CopyClip does not come with fancy features. Despite that, this simple tool will boost your productivity like never before. It seamlessly integrates with your Mac, which is great.
It can record a big number of text-based entries, but you can decide how many entries are shown in the interface. There are also some customization options like blacklisting. It means that you can configure CopyClip to not record entries that are recorded from certain apps.
Pros: Simple interface, top-notch macOS integration, minimal footprint, and overall customizability
Cons: It can record only text.
The Verdict: If you are someone like me, who loves minimal clipboard management, CopyClip is perhaps the best choice. You don’t have a fully-fledged interface or additional features. But, when it comes to recording clipboard entries and accessing them quickly, CopyClip is just great. You can also disable recording or enable ‘clip copied’ notifications through the preferences.
Check Out CopyClip (Free)
#2 CopyClip 2
You guessed it right. CopyClip 2 is advanced — and paid — version of our first recommendation. It does offer a few extra features that are not present in the free version. There is also some room for customization and optimization. If you need better control, hotkey support, and other options, CopyClip 2 is a great choice. Unlike the free version, CopyClip 2 can record non-text clipboard entries too.
For starters, CopyClip 2 lets you set up hotkeys for toggle the window. Instead of going to macOS menu and clicking on the CopyClip 2 icon, you can simply open the window. In addition, there is an option to search for all the recordings, which isn’t present in the free version. You can also decide whether you want to paste the content directly and whether you want to paste formatted text.
Pros: Additional features like Search, UI Customization, Touch-bar compatible and Hotkey support
Cons: The UI doesn’t integrate well with macOS
The Verdict: If you found CopyClip inadequate for control and customization, CopyClip 2 is the next best one to go for. If you ask us, CopyClip 2 offers a lot of features for the price you are paying. Personally speaking, we loved the search feature and UI customization. That having said, it would have been great if CopyClip 2 had a better-blending UI.
Check Out CopyClip 2 ($7.99, 7-day Free Trial available)
#3 Clipy
Clipy is often called the missing clipboard manager for Mac OS X. After testing the program for a while, we’d found it’s true. Clipy is the epitome of simplicity and productivity. In the first look, you’d find it as something really simple. However, Clipy offers better features than both of the clipboard managers we covered above. And, rejoice, Clipy is open-source.
You can decide how many entries Clipy will record for you. We must say that we loved the Preferences very well. Despite being free, this tool can record images and other clipboard entries too. And, you can decide if you don’t want to record certain clipboard types. Some of the additional features include Snippet support, application blacklisting, and in-depth customization.
Pros: Open-source, top-notch customization, hotkey support, intuitive UI
Cons: None
The Verdict: Clipy is the perfect choice if you need a feature-rich, open-source alternative to both tools we’ve mentioned earlier. You will have better control over what you have copied — be it text, images or some PDF documents — while using Clipy. We don’t think that not many clipboard managers offer as many features as offered by Clipy. Just so you know, Clipy is a remake of Clipmenu, which is an abandoned project.
Check Out Clipy (Free)
#4 Copy’em Paste
Copy’em Paste lets you not only record clipboard entries but also manage them seamlessly. It offers a better organization method of clipboard entries when compared to other listings we’ve made. As long as running, it will record almost everything you copy — including media files. You can open the interface and keep them organized in a way you like.
Copy’em Paste also packs a few features that we haven’t seen in other clipboard managers. For instance, it offers all the controls on the main interface. You can turn off/turn on recording, take screenshots, enable or disable plane-text mode and even delete the stored clippings. There are also different themes you can try for Copy’em Paste.
Another notable feature lets you export and syncs your clipboard entries via iCloud, thus making it available across all of your devices.
Pros: Easier controls via a fully-fledged interface, extension support, Hotkeys for instant pasting
Cons: Lack of Preferences pane
The Verdict: We’d say Copy’em Paste is one of the most feature-rich clipboard managers we have seen here. It packs every feature you need for recording and organizing different clipboard entries. We really loved its option for exporting, syncing and customization. Just so you know, Copy’em Paste is a premium macOS app, but the features are worth what you pay. You can find the full feature list on the official website.
Check Out Copy’em Paste ($9.99)
#5 Pastebot
Pastebot is a clipboard manager for those who need better control over what they copy. Just like the others on the list, it too has an interface via the menu bar. However, when it comes to saving snippets and accessing something you’ve copied long back, Pastebot becomes a rockstar. It opens up a fully-fledged window that is showing a list of everything you copied.
Just clicking on those entries will copy the text/file into your clipboard. When compared to other managers we have reviewed, Pastebot is smoother. There are some awesome filters too. For instance, using one of the HTML filters, you can convert lists into HTML codes. We’d say Pastebot would be a superb companion for a lot of coders out there.
Pros: A complete interface, Snippet support, filter support, better content organization
Cons: The menu-bar interface isn’t that intuitive.
The Verdict: As we said, Pastebot is the best companion for people who copy a lot of stuff and coders. It has a bunch of features that enhance the total user experience, in addition to options like iCloud Sync, sequential pasting, custom pasteboards, blacklisting, and keyboard shortcuts. In short, Pastebot would be a great choice if you are looking for an advanced and feature-rich clipboard manager for Mac.
Check Out Pastebot ($9.99 | Free Trial on Website)
Clipboard History Mac Reddit
#6 Unclutter
Technically speaking, Unclutter isn’t a dedicated Mac clipboard manager. In fact, it goes a bit further than a clipboard manager. As the name says, Unclutter lets you make your desktop uncluttered. It does so by giving you space where you can keep your necessary files, clipboard entries, and even important notes. Just after you have installed the program, you can access this area from the menu bar.
However, the clipboard manager section of Unclutters offers better features than what we have seen above. It records all the entries. It lets you organize saved clipboard entries. It even lets you edit the current entry. There is also a Star button to save the clipboard entries for later. Simply clicking on the entry will copy it to the current clipboard.
Clipboard History App For Mac
Pros: An out-of-the-box productive suite, a simple yet effective UI, better organization
Cons: Unclutter is a bundled suite; clipboard manager isn’t available standalone
The Verdict: If you prefer having a productive program alongside, Unclutter is one of the best ways to record and manage clipboard data. For the amount you are paying, you get a lot of features. You will love all these features if you are a professional user. So, even with the limitation that you should have the whole program on your Mac, Unclutter seems to be an awesome clipboard manager.
Check Out Unclutter ($11.79, Free Trial available)
#7 Paste 2
We save the best for the last — Paste is probably the best clipboard manager for Mac that you can try right now! There are a few things that attracted us to Paste, the macOS integration being the best. Simply press the keyboard combination to launch Paste from the bottom part of the screen. From the grid-based view of clips, you can double-click to paste anything.
The best part is that Paste saves an unlimited number of clipboard entries. In addition to normal entries, there is another section named Useful Links. Here, you can keep hyperlinks that you access regularly. You can also create customized lists where you can keep different types of clipboard entries. The visual display and many options in sync make Paste one of the best tools ever.
Pros: Visual design, iCloud Sync support, Drag-and-drop support, custom shortcuts, and iOS app
Cons: None
The Verdict: Paste is the perfect clipboard manager for everyone! The visual design makes it usable for most professionals. Also, we really loved the category options and hotkey support. In addition, you are getting the support for iCloud sync. With a dedicated iOS app available, you will have access to all your recordings from anywhere.
Check Out Paste 2 ($14.99, Free Trial available)
Clipboard History For Mac Catalina
The Bottom Line
View Clipboard Mac
These will be our recommendations when you ask for the best clipboard managers for Mac. We have made sure that the article consists of different apps. For instance, if you need a simple tool for text-based clipboard entries, CopyClip and Clipy are best options. On the other hand, if additional features matter to you, Paste and Copy’em Paste should work fine too. Which is your favorite clipboard manager for Mac? Do let us know.
Read: Automatically Copy Selected Text to Clipboard [Chrome]