Can I use a clipboard manager without the mouse?

Yes. ClipHistory is keyboard-driven: Cmd+Shift+V opens history, typing filters it, arrow keys select, and Return pastes — all without the mouse.

What is the default shortcut?

Cmd+Shift+V opens the clip history at your cursor in any app.

How many clips can I keep?

150 unpinned clips, plus an unlimited number of pinned clips that never roll off the list.

Does the keyboard workflow include AI actions?

Yes. You can run summarize, rewrite, translate, or clean transforms on a selected clip using your own API key from one of five providers.

A Keyboard-Driven Clipboard for macOS

If your hands leave the keyboard to manage copied text, you're paying a small tax dozens of times a day. A keyboard-driven clipboard removes that tax: every action — open, search, select, paste, pin — happens without touching the mouse.

Why keyboard-first matters

Reaching for the mouse to open a menu bar item, scan a list, and click an entry takes a couple of seconds. Do that 50 times a day and it adds up to real time, but more importantly it breaks flow. Keeping your hands on the keys keeps your attention on the work.

The macOS clipboard isn't keyboard-driven at all — it has exactly one slot and one shortcut (Cmd+V). A keyboard-driven clipboard manager layers a full, navigable history on top.

The core loop

ClipHistory is built around one shortcut and a few keys:

Cmd+Shift+V to open

Press Cmd+Shift+V in any app and the clip list appears at your cursor. The most recent copy is on top.

Type to filter

Start typing and the list narrows in real time. Looking for that database URL? Type "postgres". Looking for a name you copied? Type the first few letters. This is faster than scrolling once you have more than a handful of clips.

Arrow keys to select

Move up and down the filtered results with the arrow keys. No mouse, no trackpad.

Return to paste

Press Return and the selected clip is pasted into the app you were just in. The picker dismisses itself and you're back where you started — never having left the keyboard.

Beyond paste: keyboard control of everything

A keyboard-driven clipboard isn't just about pasting. ClipHistory lets you manage the whole history from the keys:

Pin a clip so it stays at the top and never rolls off the 150-clip limit.
Delete a clip you don't want lingering in history.
Run an AI transform — summarize, rewrite, translate, or clean — on the selected clip.
Switch to snippets and boards to grab reusable text.

The goal is that you rarely, if ever, reach for the mouse to deal with copied content.

The 150 + unlimited model

ClipHistory keeps your 150 most recent unpinned clips. That's enough to cover a working session without bloating the list. Anything you want forever — a license key, a standard reply, a command you run weekly — you pin, and pinned clips are unlimited and never expire.

This keeps the keyboard experience fast: a short, relevant list you can filter instantly, plus your permanent items always on top.

AI transforms from the keyboard

Select a clip, trigger a transform, and ClipHistory can summarize a long block, rewrite a message, translate text, or clean up messy formatting. It uses one of five providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom endpoint — with your own API key. The request goes directly from your Mac; the rest of your history stays local.

Local by design

A clipboard sees everything — passwords, tokens, private code, draft messages. ClipHistory keeps all of it on your machine. No cloud sync, no account, nothing uploaded. The keyboard-driven workflow doesn't trade speed for exposure.

Snippets and boards from the keyboard

A keyboard-driven clipboard isn't only about what you've copied recently — it's also about reusable text. ClipHistory includes snippets for boilerplate you reuse (signatures, command templates, standard replies) and boards to organize them into groups. They're reachable through the same keyboard workflow, so you don't switch to a different app or interface to grab a saved block. Find it, insert it, keep moving.

Why one shortcut beats many

Some setups give you a different shortcut for history, another for snippets, another for the paste stack. ClipHistory deliberately funnels the common actions through one global shortcut so there's almost nothing to memorize. Once Cmd+Shift+V is muscle memory, browsing clips, queuing a sequence, pinning, and transforming all feel like the same motion. Lower cognitive load is part of staying in flow — you spend attention on the work, not on remembering which key does what.

Native and trustworthy

ClipHistory is signed and notarized by Apple, ships as a universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel, and runs on macOS 12 and later. It's a one-time $19.99 for a 12-month license, with no auto-renewal.

Summary

A keyboard-driven clipboard turns copied text into something you control entirely from the keys: Cmd+Shift+V to open, type to filter, arrows to select, Return to paste — plus pinning, deleting, snippets, and AI transforms without the mouse. It keeps your last 150 clips plus unlimited pinned items, all stored locally on your Mac.

Get ClipHistory for macOS

ClipHistory is a local-first clipboard manager for macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon + Intel), signed and notarized by Apple. One-time payment of $19.99 for a 12-month license, no auto-renewal, no account, no cloud. Get ClipHistory for macOS — $19.99.