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Mac clipboard history

Does a Mac keep a clipboard history?

It keeps one copy. Newer Macs keep a short list of recent ones. Here is what that covers, and what it doesn’t.

Yes, a little. Since macOS Tahoe, Spotlight can keep your recent copies: press Cmd-Space, then Cmd-4. It keeps text, images, links and files, for 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days, and it is off until you turn it on in System Settings under Spotlight. Once that window passes, a copy is gone.

Actual size. The tray opens above the menu bar, over whatever you’re doing.

What the Mac keeps on its own

A Mac holds one copy at a time. Press Cmd-C and whatever was there before is replaced. That has been true since the first Mac, and it is still true today.

macOS Tahoe added a list. With clipboard history switched on in Spotlight, your recent copies sit behind Cmd-Space, Cmd-4, for as long as you set: half an hour, eight hours, or a week. It keeps text, images, links and files, as a list. Nothing survives the window you set, and it needs macOS 26.

What a clipboard manager keeps

Every copy, as the thing it is. Just Copy keeps sixteen kinds of copy and draws each one as what it is: a color arrives as the color, a link brings the page’s picture, a screenshot is the screenshot. Nothing expires unless you ask it to.

Everything you’ve copied drops open from the notch as cards, above the menu bar, without a window. Start typing and everything that doesn’t match drops out of sight, including the words inside pictures you copied. Press Return and it goes straight back into the app you were typing in.

  • Text
  • Code
  • Link
  • Image
  • Screenshot
  • Color
  • File
  • Phone
  • Address
  • Date
  • Contact
  • Password
  • Emoji
  • Audio
  • Video

Where it all goes

Into a folder on your own Mac: a database and the pictures themselves. No account, nothing to sign in to. Turn on iCloud sync and your copies travel through your own iCloud account: Just Copy has no servers and no way to see them.

Questions

Is the built-in history enough?

If a short list of recent copies covers your day, use it. It’s free and already there. Just Copy keeps everything for as long as you like, draws each copy as what it is, opens from the notch, and adds folders, Paste Stack and AI access.

Does Just Copy work on a Mac without macOS Tahoe?

Yes. It needs macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon. The built-in Spotlight list needs macOS 26.

Does it keep pictures and files?

Yes. Text is tiny; pictures are the weight. Out of the box nothing expires, and you can tell it to drop images after a week and keep the words, put an age on everything, or cap the whole thing by size.