Does ClipHistory run in the background all the time?

It runs quietly in the menu bar to record copies, surfacing only when you press Cmd+Shift+V. It's built to stay out of the way on macOS 12 and later.

Is there a subscription?

No. ClipHistory is $19.99 as a one-time payment for a 12-month license, with no auto-renewal.

Do I need to set up an account?

No account and no cloud. Everything stays local on your Mac, which is part of what keeps the app light.

A Lightweight Clipboard Manager for Mac

Q: What makes a clipboard manager lightweight?

A native build, local-only storage with no account or cloud, a bounded history, and keyboard-first access. ClipHistory checks all four and runs as a universal binary.

A clipboard manager should do one job well: remember what you copy and let you paste it back. Plenty of them pile on background services, accounts, and cloud sync you never asked for. If you want something that stays out of the way, here's what "lightweight" actually means — and how to set one up.

What Makes a Clipboard Manager Lightweight

Lightweight isn't just about file size. It's about how much the app demands from your machine and your attention:

Native, not wrapped. A native app built for macOS uses fewer resources than a browser-based shell. ClipHistory is a universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel.
No account, no cloud. Sign-ups and sync add servers, logins, and privacy questions. ClipHistory has no account and no cloud — everything stays on your Mac.
Bounded history. Storing infinite clips forever bloats over time. ClipHistory keeps your last 150 unpinned clips and lets you pin the few you want to keep permanently.
Keyboard-first. A single shortcut beats hunting through menus. Cmd+Shift+V opens the panel from anywhere.

How ClipHistory Stays Out of the Way

You install it, grant accessibility permission, and then mostly forget it's there. It sits in the menu bar, records each copy quietly, and surfaces only when you press Cmd+Shift+V. Type to filter, press Enter to paste, and you're back to work.

Because it's signed and notarized by Apple, it opens cleanly through Gatekeeper with no security workarounds. It runs on macOS 12 and later.

Light, But Not Bare

Lightweight doesn't have to mean feature-poor. ClipHistory keeps the core fast while offering tools you can ignore until you need them:

Snippets

Save text you reuse — templates, signatures, addresses — and paste them instantly.

Boards

Group related clips for a project so a set stays together.

Paste Stack

Queue several clips and paste them in order with repeated presses.

AI Transforms (Optional)

Summarize, rewrite, translate, or clean a clip before pasting. These use your own API key from Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom provider — so the feature exists only if you turn it on, and nothing runs through someone else's server.

None of these slow down the basic copy-and-recall loop. They're there when you want them and invisible when you don't.

What You Pay

ClipHistory is $19.99 as a one-time payment for a 12-month license — no subscription, no auto-renewal. You buy it once and use it.

Setting It Up

Download ClipHistory and open it once; macOS verifies the notarized signature.
Grant accessibility permission so it can paste into other apps.
Optionally set your AI provider key if you want transforms.
Copy as usual — history builds automatically, and Cmd+Shift+V is always ready.

If you want a clipboard manager that respects your Mac's resources and your privacy, "lightweight" comes down to native code, local storage, a bounded history, and a single shortcut — exactly the shape ClipHistory is built in.

Stop losing what you copy. ClipHistory keeps your last 150 clips (plus unlimited pinned ones) right under Cmd+Shift+V, with AI transforms that run on your own API key and never leave your Mac. Get ClipHistory for macOS — $19.99, one-time