The Best Clipboard Manager for Mac in 2026 (7 Apps Compared)

The Mac clipboard holds exactly one thing. Copy something new and whatever was there before is gone, which is a problem when you’re moving several snippets between documents or need a link you copied ten minutes ago. A clipboard manager fixes that by keeping a searchable history of everything you copy.

We compared the best clipboard manager for Mac options on price, history limits, sync and privacy. macOS 26 Tahoe now has a basic history built in, so we cover that first.

Comparison: best clipboard managers for Mac

App	Price model	History	Sync	Best for
Maccy	Free, open source	Configurable, local	No	Most people
Paste	Subscription	Unlimited	iCloud (Mac, iPhone, iPad)	Visual history across devices
Raycast	Free (Pro subscription)	3 months free, unlimited with Pro	With Pro	People who want a launcher too
Alfred	Powerpack (one-time)	Up to 3 months	No (clipboard isn’t synced)	Existing Alfred users
Pastebot	One-time or App Store subscription	Up to 1,500 clips	iCloud (Macs)	Power users who want rules and filters
CopyClip 2	One-time purchase	Up to 9,999 clips	No	A simple paid menu bar app
Flycut	Free, open source	Configurable, text only	No	Developers who want something minimal

Does macOS have clipboard history built in?

Yes, if you’re on macOS 26 Tahoe or later. Clipboard history lives inside Spotlight:

1. Press ⌘ Command + Space to open Spotlight.
2. Press ⌘4, or click the Clipboard button next to the search field.
3. The first time, click Enable (or allow Clipboard results) when asked.
4. Type to search, then select an item and press ⌘C to copy it again.

It’s a welcome addition, but limited. By default, items older than 8 hours are cleared. In macOS 26.1 and later you can choose 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days under System Settings › Spotlight, where you can also turn clipboard history off or clear it. You can’t pin items you use often, text is saved without its formatting, and there’s no sync between devices. To wipe the history at any time, click the More button next to the Spotlight search field and choose Clear History.

If you just want to grab something you copied a few minutes ago, the built-in history is enough. If you want long-term history, pinned snippets or more control, use one of the apps below.

Tip: Clipboard history can capture sensitive text. Apple doesn’t save passwords copied from its Passwords app, but other apps’ content may be stored. Clear the history after copying anything private, or use an app with an ignore list.

What to look for in a clipboard manager

Every app here saves what you copy, so the differences are in the details:

• Keyboard speed. The best ones open with a shortcut, filter as you type and paste on Return, so you never touch the mouse.
• Pinning. Addresses, email replies and code snippets you paste every day should stay at the top instead of scrolling away.
• Privacy controls. Look for an ignore list for specific apps and automatic skipping of passwords copied from password managers.
• Content types. Some apps handle only text; others also keep images, files, links and colors.
• Sync. If you move between a Mac and an iPhone, history that follows you is worth paying for. If you don’t, local-only is simpler and more private.

The best clipboard managers for Mac

Maccy

Best for: Most people · Price: Free (open source) · Website

Maccy is the clipboard manager we’d recommend first. Press ⇧ Shift + ⌘ + C, start typing, and press Return to paste the match. It lives in the menu bar, keeps everything on your Mac, and stays out of the way. Pin items you paste often with ⌥ Option + P, and use the settings to ignore specific apps or content types.

Maccy is free from its website, GitHub or Homebrew. The Mac App Store version is paid and exists to support the developer; it’s the same app. It requires macOS Sonoma or later. Download it only from maccy.app or the App Store, since look-alike sites have distributed malware under the Maccy name.

• Pros: Free, fast, private, fully keyboard-driven
• Cons: No sync between devices; plain list interface

Paste

Best for: A visual history that syncs to iPhone and iPad · Price: Subscription · Website

Paste is the most polished option. Your history appears as a strip of large cards along the bottom of the screen, with previews of images, links and colors. History is unlimited, pinboards let you organize snippets you reuse, and everything syncs through your private iCloud account to Paste on iPhone and iPad. You can set rules to ignore passwords and sensitive apps.

It’s subscription only, with a free trial. If you copy and paste all day across devices, it’s worth it.

• Pros: Beautiful interface, unlimited history, iCloud sync across Apple devices
• Cons: Subscription; more than most people need

Raycast clipboard history

Best for: People who want a launcher and clipboard manager in one · Price: Freemium (Pro subscription) · Website

If you already use Raycast as your launcher, you have a capable clipboard manager built in. Clipboard History stores text, images, colors and links, encrypts them on your Mac, and ignores passwords copied from password managers by default. Pin entries with ⌘⇧P and assign a hotkey so it opens directly.

The free plan keeps three months of history; Raycast Pro, a subscription, makes it unlimited. The current Raycast requires macOS Tahoe or later on Apple silicon.

• Pros: Free for three months of history, part of an app you may already use
• Cons: Unlimited history needs Pro; overkill if you only want a clipboard

Alfred clipboard history (Powerpack)

Best for: Alfred users who already own the Powerpack · Price: Paid (Powerpack, one-time) · Website

Alfred’s Clipboard History is part of the paid Powerpack and is off by default. Once enabled, it saves text, images and file references, for 24 hours, 7 days, 1 month or 3 months. It ignores Keychain Access and 1Password by default and skips content marked as concealed, like password fields. A neat extra: merging lets you append several copies into one clipboard item.

Clipboard history doesn’t sync between Macs even when you sync Alfred’s preferences.

• Pros: One-time price, private and local, well integrated into Alfred
• Cons: Requires the Powerpack; no sync

Deciding between the two launchers? Read our Raycast vs Alfred comparison.

Pastebot

Best for: Power users who want rules and paste filters · Price: Paid (one-time) or App Store subscription · Website

Pastebot, from the makers of Tweetbot and Ivory, returned in July 2026 with Pastebot 3. It keeps up to 1,500 clippings and adds Smart Pastebins, which sort clippings automatically with rules (every link copied from Safari, for example). Paste filters transform text before you paste it: plain text, change case, find and replace, extract URLs and more, and you can chain them and give them shortcuts. It also syncs through iCloud between Macs, supports Shortcuts and has an app blocklist for passwords.

Buy it directly for a one-time price that includes a year of updates, or subscribe through the Mac App Store. There’s a free trial. Pastebot 3 requires macOS Tahoe or later.

• Pros: The most powerful filters and automation, iCloud sync, native Mac design
• Cons: Requires macOS Tahoe; ongoing updates cost extra on the direct license

CopyClip 2

Best for: A simple paid app that just works · Price: Paid (one-time purchase) · Website

CopyClip 2 from FIPLAB is a straightforward menu bar clipboard manager focused on text. It stores up to 9,999 clips, pastes with or without formatting, lets you pin clips and paste the first ten with number shortcuts, and can exclude specific apps. It’s sold through the Mac App Store and supports macOS Monterey or later. The older original CopyClip is still free but hasn’t kept pace.

• Pros: Simple, large history, App Store convenience
• Cons: Text-focused; no sync

Flycut

Best for: Developers who want the bare minimum · Price: Free (open source) · Website

Flycut is a free, open-source clipboard manager that started life as Jumpcut. Press its shortcut and cycle through recent text clippings with the arrow keys, then paste. That’s about it, and that’s the appeal for developers who copy code all day. Be aware that the main project hasn’t had a new release since 2022, so newer apps like Maccy are a safer long-term pick.

• Pros: Free, extremely light, quick to learn
• Cons: Text only; development has slowed

Which clipboard manager should you use?

• Just starting out: Try macOS Tahoe’s built-in Spotlight history for a week. If you keep wishing it remembered more, install Maccy.
• Want it free and simple: Maccy.
• Copy between Mac and iPhone: Paste.
• Want automation and filters: Pastebot.
• Already use a launcher: Raycast or Alfred’s built-in history, so you don’t run two apps.

Once you’ve picked one, it’s worth learning a few clipboard shortcuts too. Our list of Mac keyboard shortcuts covers copy, paste and paste-and-match-style, and our roundup of the best Mac apps has more tools that pair well with a clipboard manager.

How we picked

We looked for clipboard managers that are actively available for current macOS and judged them on:

• Speed: How quickly you can find and paste an old item from the keyboard
• History: How much they keep, and whether you can pin favorites
• Privacy: Local storage, password-manager handling and per-app ignore lists
• Sync: Whether history follows you to other Macs or your iPhone
• Price model: Free, one-time or subscription, without quoting prices that change

We confirmed each app’s current version, requirements and official download source. Apps that are abandoned or only available from unofficial download sites didn’t make the list.