How to Get Multiple Clipboards on Mac
How to Get Multiple Clipboards on Mac
macOS ships with exactly one clipboard. Copy something new and whatever you had before is gone. If you've ever needed to juggle several pieces of text at once — moving code between files, assembling an email from scattered notes, or just trying to remember what you copied two minutes ago — you already know how frustrating that limitation is.
The good news: you don't have to live with it. Here's a practical guide to getting multiple clipboards on Mac, from built-in workarounds to dedicated clipboard managers.
Why macOS Only Has One Clipboard by Default
Apple's clipboard is intentionally simple. Cmd+C writes to a single system pasteboard; Cmd+V reads from it. There's no built-in history, no pinning, no secondary clipboard.
Power users have patched around this for decades using Notes, TextEdit, or even Stickies as manual scratch pads. Those approaches work in a pinch, but they require constant switching and don't scale past three or four clips.
The Built-in Workarounds (and Their Limits)
Universal Clipboard (Handoff)
If you have an iPhone nearby, Apple's Universal Clipboard lets you copy on one device and paste on another. This is genuinely useful, but it is not multiple clipboards — it's still one clipboard, just shared across devices. It also requires both devices to be logged into the same Apple ID and on the same Wi-Fi network.
Finder's "Move" Shortcut
Cmd+Option+V in Finder moves a file instead of copying it. Again, a single clipboard — just destructive this time.
TextEdit or Notes as a Staging Area
Open a scratch document, paste clips there as you collect them, then copy each one out as needed. This works, but it is manual, slow, and you lose everything when you close the document.
The Real Solution: A Clipboard Manager
A dedicated clipboard manager replaces the one-clipboard limitation entirely. Every time you press Cmd+C, the app captures that copy and adds it to a growing history. You now have access to dozens — or hundreds — of previous clips at any moment.
Popular options on macOS include:
- Maccy — open-source, minimal, free, menu-bar only
- Alfred / Raycast — clipboard history as one feature inside a broader launcher
- Paste — polished design, iCloud sync, subscription-based
- Pastebot — sync via iCloud, action transforms, one-time purchase
Each has real strengths. The right choice depends on how you work.
What ClipHistory Does Differently
ClipHistory is a macOS clipboard manager built in Rust and Tauri — a Universal Binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, signed and notarized by Apple.
Multiple clipboards, practically: ClipHistory auto-captures every copy you make and keeps the last 150 unpinned clips. Beyond that, you can pin an unlimited number of clips permanently — those never age out. That pinned collection is effectively a set of persistent clipboards you can return to any time.
One shortcut to everything: Press Cmd+Shift+V to open the history panel. Search across all your clips, pin anything important, and recall it instantly. You never leave your current app.
Smart categories: ClipHistory automatically tags each clip — URL, email, phone, code, color hex, number, plain text, or image — so you can filter by type instead of scrolling.
Custom Boards: Group related clips into named collections. A "Project X" board, a "Templates" board, a "Client Emails" board — these behave exactly like multiple named clipboards that persist across reboots.
Paste Stack: Queue several clips in order, then paste them in sequence. Useful when filling out forms or assembling documents from multiple sources.
AI Transforms: Summarize, rewrite, translate, fix grammar, or clean up any clip with one click. Supports five AI providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, and a custom endpoint — and you bring your own API key. Nothing is sent anywhere without your explicit action.
Private by design: Everything stays local on your Mac. No cloud, no account required, no tracking.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Multiple Clipboards with ClipHistory
- Download and install ClipHistory. It is signed and notarized, so macOS Gatekeeper will clear it without any security warnings.
- Grant Accessibility permission when prompted — this is how the app captures clipboard events in the background.
- Start copying things normally. Every
Cmd+Cis now captured automatically. - Press Cmd+Shift+V at any time to see your full clipboard history.
- Click the pin icon next to any clip to pin it permanently. Pinned clips form your persistent "extra clipboards."
- Use Custom Boards (accessible from the sidebar) to organize clips by project or context.
- Use Paste Stack when you need to paste a sequence of items in order.
That's it. You now have 150 rolling clips, unlimited pinned clips, and purpose-built boards — all searchable in under a second.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the questions buyers ask most before committing to a clipboard manager.