A Mac keeps only the last thing you copied. To see it, open Finder and choose Edit › Show Clipboard. To see what you copied before that, you need a clipboard history: on macOS 26 Tahoe, Spotlight has a basic one you can turn on (press ⌘Space, then ⌘4). On older versions, or if you want images, search and a history that lasts, you need a clipboard manager. Toolnotch's Pasteback opens yours with ⇧⌘C, right under the notch.
Below: what macOS gives you, what a clipboard manager adds, and how Pasteback works day to day.
What macOS keeps on its own
One item. Every ⌘C replaces the previous one. Finder's Edit › Show Clipboard displays it, and that's all. Restart the Mac and it's gone.
Universal Clipboard. If your iPhone and Mac use the same Apple Account with Handoff on, something copied on one can be pasted on the other for a short while. It's still one item, not a history.
Spotlight's clipboard history, macOS 26 Tahoe. Tahoe added a Clipboard view to Spotlight:
- Press ⌘Space to open Spotlight.
- Press ⌘4, or click the Clipboard button. The first time, macOS asks you to turn it on.
- Pick an item to copy or paste it.
At the time of writing it is off by default and keeps items for a limited time (Apple offers 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days). It works best with text: formatting is dropped, and copies from Apple's Passwords app are left out. You can turn it off in System Settings › Spotlight.
For a quick "what did I copy five minutes ago", that's enough. It stops being enough when you look for something from last week, when it was a screenshot, or when you want a link you paste every day one key away.
What a clipboard manager adds
- History that lasts. Thousands of items, kept until you clear them.
- Every kind of content. Text with its formatting, links, images, files, colours.
- Search. Type a word and the list narrows. Some managers also search the text inside images.
- Pins. The address, the IBAN or the boilerplate you paste every day, always on top.
- Care with passwords. A good manager skips items from password managers and hides API keys and tokens on screen.
Popular choices include Paste, Maccy (free), Raycast's clipboard history and Alfred's. The rest of this guide covers Pasteback, the clipboard history in Toolnotch, because that's the one I build and can describe exactly.
Pasteback: your history under the notch
Press ⇧⌘C. The history unfolds from the notch on the screen your pointer is on (on a display without a notch, it hangs from the middle of the menu bar). Nothing opens when the pointer merely passes over the notch.
Browse. Pasteback opens in a grid of tiles; ⌘L switches to a list with a large preview on the right, which is what the video above shows. ↑ ↓ move through your clips. The preview shows each one the way it is: a link with its page title and image, a command or a piece of code with syntax colours, a colour as a swatch with its hex, RGB and HSL values, a screenshot full size.
Search. Just type: the search field has focus as soon as the history opens. The chips inside the field narrow the list to All, Links, Code, Media, Secrets or Snippets; Tab moves between them. Search also finds the words inside screenshots and images, because Pasteback reads them on your Mac in the background. That gets its own guide: search the text in your screenshots.
Paste. ↩ pastes the selected clip into the app you were in, and the history closes at once. There's no confirmation to dismiss: the text simply appears where your cursor was. A few other keys:
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ↩ | Paste the selected clip |
| ⇧↩ | Paste as plain text, without formatting |
| ⌘↩ | Copy it, without pasting |
| ⌘1 to ⌘9 | Paste the first nine clips directly |
| ⌘P | Pin the selected clip |
| ⌃1, ⌃2… | Paste a pinned clip |
| ⌘K | Every action for the selected clip |
| esc | Close |
Pasting for you needs Accessibility access, which macOS asks for once. Without it, Pasteback copies the clip and an island under the notch says « Press ⌘V to paste ».
Copy feedback. When you copy something anywhere, a small island under the notch confirms it: « Copied » with a line of what you copied, or the site's name for a link. It folds away as soon as you click or type. For your first few copies it shows ⇧⌘C, as a reminder of where your history is.
How much it keeps
By default Pasteback keeps your last 10,000 clips, with no time limit. In Settings › Pasteback you can choose a limit from 1,000 to 50,000 clips, or keep clips for 30 to 360 days instead. Pinned clips are always kept. Lowering the limit asks before deleting anything.
Everything stays on your Mac, in Toolnotch's own folder, readable only by your user account. There's no cloud and no sync.
Passwords and secrets
Copies from password managers are never written to disk. API keys, tokens, private keys and passwords in URLs are recognised and masked on screen: you see the first characters, then dots, and the time of the clip turns amber. Pasting still sends the real value. By default such a secret is kept until the Mac restarts; you can block secrets completely or keep them like any clip. More in clipboard managers and passwords on Mac.
You can also pause recording from ⌘K for 15 minutes or longer, and list apps whose copies should never be saved.
Limits
- Pasteback needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later. On older versions, look at Maccy or Paste.
- No sync between Macs, by design. If you need your history on an iPhone, Paste with iCloud does that.
- It's part of Toolnotch, a paid app with no trial build. The home page has a working demo of the history in your browser, and refunds are open for 14 days.
Two related tricks
Need to paste several things in a row, like filling a form? Use the Paste Stack: paste multiple items in order. Need text you can't select, in a video or a shared screen? See copy text from anywhere on the screen.
FAQ
Does macOS have a clipboard history?
Since macOS 26 Tahoe, yes: Spotlight has a Clipboard view (⌘Space, then ⌘4). It's off until you turn it on and keeps items for 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days. Earlier versions of macOS keep only the last item.
How do I clear my clipboard history?
In Pasteback, Settings › Pasteback › Clear history. Pinned clips and snippets stay. To remove one clip, select it and press ⌫; ⌘Z brings it back.
Can I change ⇧⌘C?
Yes, in Settings › Pasteback, under « Open the history ». Toolnotch tells you if another app already uses the keys you pick.
Does it work with a password field in front?
Yes. Since Toolnotch 1.2.1, ⇧⌘C and the other shortcuts work even when a password field has focus.