Can I copy several separate lines at once on a Mac?

Not with the default clipboard — each copy overwrites the last. Use a clipboard manager with a paste stack to accumulate multiple copies and paste them in order.

How do I copy a block of consecutive lines?

Shift-click or Shift+Arrow to select the range, then Cmd+C. The whole block copies as one item with line breaks preserved.

What is a paste stack?

A feature that lets each copy add to a stack instead of overwriting. You copy several items, then paste them out one by one in sequence. ClipHistory includes one.

How do I reuse the same set of lines often?

Save them as a snippet in ClipHistory, or pin the clip so it stays in your history permanently.

How to Copy Multiple Lines at Once on Mac

"Copy multiple lines at once" can mean two different things on a Mac: copying a block of consecutive lines, or copying several separate pieces of text in one workflow. Here's how to do both.

Copying a block of consecutive lines

This is the easy case. Any contiguous selection copies as one clipboard item:

Click at the start, hold Shift, and click at the end to select a range.
Or click at the start and Shift+Down Arrow to extend line by line.
Press Cmd+C. All selected lines copy together, line breaks included.

Paste with Cmd+V and the whole block lands intact. Nothing special required — macOS treats the multi-line selection as a single item.

Copying non-adjacent lines

This is where the default clipboard falls short. If you want line 3, line 9, and line 20 — but not the lines in between — macOS gives you no built-in way to accumulate them. Each Cmd+C overwrites the last.

There are three real approaches.

Option 1: Select all, then trim

Copy the whole region, paste it somewhere scratch, and delete the lines you don't want. Workable for a few lines, tedious past that.

Option 2: Use a column/multi-cursor editor

If the lines share a structure (like a spreadsheet column or code), a text editor with multi-cursor or column selection lets you grab a vertical slice. In many editors, hold Option and drag to make a column selection, then copy. Spreadsheets let you select a column and copy all cells at once.

Option 3: A paste stack (the clean way)

A clipboard manager with a paste stack is built for exactly this. You copy each line you want, one at a time — they stack up instead of overwriting — and then paste them all out in order with repeated pastes.

In ClipHistory:

Copy line 3 (it goes on the stack).
Copy line 9 (added to the stack).
Copy line 20 (added).
Switch to your destination and paste repeatedly — each paste drops the next item in sequence.

No alt-tabbing back to re-copy, no losing earlier lines.

Collecting values from many places

The paste stack also shines when the lines aren't even in the same document — a name from one window, an email from another, a code from a third. Copy each as you find it; they all accumulate. This turns a five-trip back-and-forth into a single sweep.

Reusing the same set of lines repeatedly

If you paste the same block of lines often — a standard reply, a list of fields, a snippet of boilerplate — save it once as a snippet in ClipHistory and recall it any time. And anything you want permanently available, pin it so it never rotates out of your 150-item history.

Quick reference

Consecutive lines: Shift-select, Cmd+C — copies as one block
Non-adjacent lines: use a paste stack to accumulate, then paste in order
From multiple sources: copy each into the stack, paste once at the destination
Reused blocks: save as a snippet or pin it

Get ClipHistory for macOS

Stop copying lines one at a time. ClipHistory's paste stack, history, and snippets make multi-item copying effortless — local, signed and notarized by Apple, universal binary, macOS 12+. One-time $19.99 (12-month license, no auto-renewal). Download ClipHistory.