How do I paste something I copied earlier on my Mac?

macOS only keeps your last copy, so you need a clipboard manager. With ClipHistory, press Cmd+Shift+V, find the earlier item in your history, and paste it.

Is there a native shortcut to paste a previous clipboard item?

No. macOS has no clipboard history or undo for the clipboard. A clipboard manager like ClipHistory adds that capability.

How far back does the clipboard history go?

ClipHistory keeps your last 150 unpinned items plus unlimited pinned items, all stored locally on your Mac.

Can I keep certain copied items permanently?

Yes. Pin them in ClipHistory and they never rotate out of your history. Pinned items are unlimited.

How to Paste a Previous Clipboard Item on Mac

You copied something useful, then copied something else, and now the first thing is gone. macOS only remembers your most recent copy, so "paste the previous clipboard item" isn't possible by default. Here's the reality and the fix.

Why macOS can't paste your previous copy

The macOS clipboard has a depth of one. Every Cmd+C overwrites the last item. There's no Cmd+Z for the clipboard, no built-in history panel, and no hidden shortcut to step back to an earlier copy. Once you copy something new, the previous item is genuinely gone.

So if you're looking for a native "paste previous clipboard" feature, it doesn't exist. What you need is a clipboard manager that records each copy before it gets overwritten.

The fix: a local clipboard history

A clipboard manager sits quietly in the background and saves each item you copy into a history. When you need the thing from ten minutes ago, you open the history and paste it directly.

With ClipHistory:

Press Cmd+Shift+V to open your clipboard history.
Scroll or type to search for the earlier item.
Select it — it pastes into wherever your cursor is.

Your last 150 unpinned items stay available, so "previous clipboard" becomes "any clipboard from this work session." Everything is stored locally on your Mac — no account, no cloud.

Keep the items you reuse forever

Some things you don't just want from earlier today — you want them always. Your address, a license key, a code block, an email signature. Pin them in ClipHistory and they never rotate out of the 150-item window. Pinned items are unlimited.

Build a paste stack for sequences

If you need to paste several previous items in order — say, a set of values you copied one after another — use the paste stack. Copy each item; they accumulate instead of overwriting. Then paste repeatedly at the destination and each press drops the next item in sequence.

Clean up or transform an old clip

Sometimes the previous item needs a tweak before you reuse it — extra whitespace, the wrong language, too long. ClipHistory's AI transforms can summarize, rewrite, translate, or clean a clip using your own API key from one of five providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom endpoint). The key is yours and the request goes directly from your Mac.

The short answer

macOS keeps only your last copy — no native way to paste a previous one
A clipboard manager records each copy into a history
ClipHistory: press Cmd+Shift+V, pick any of the last 150 items, paste it
Pin the items you reuse; build a paste stack for sequences

Get ClipHistory for macOS

Never lose a previous copy again. ClipHistory keeps your history local and instantly searchable — signed and notarized by Apple, universal binary, macOS 12+. One-time $19.99 (12-month license, no auto-renewal). Download ClipHistory.