Clipboard history on Mac: every way to get it in 2026

For most of its life, the Mac clipboard held one thing: the last item you copied. Copy something new and the old one was gone. That’s finally changed, and there are now several good ways to get a clipboard history.

Built in: Spotlight in macOS Tahoe

macOS 26 Tahoe added clipboard history to Spotlight.

1. Press ⌘ Space to open Spotlight.
2. Press ⌘ 4 to switch to Clipboard. The first time, choose Enable.
3. Type to search, then double-click an item to paste it.

It’s free and already on your Mac. It’s a good start if you only occasionally need something you copied earlier. On macOS 15 Sequoia and earlier, there’s no built-in history; use one of the apps below.

Free apps

• Maccy is a small, fast clipboard manager that does one job well. It’s open source and free to download from its GitHub page, or paid on the Mac App Store, which supports the developer.
• Raycast, the launcher, includes clipboard history in its free plan for personal use, alongside snippets, window management and much more. If you already use Raycast, you have it.

NotchMind

NotchMind, which I make, keeps clipboard history in the notch. Press your shortcut, type a few letters and press ↩ to paste into the app you were in.

• Up to 500 items, set by you, starting at 50.
• Pins for things you paste often; they stay when you clear history.
• Filters for text, links, images and files, switched with ⇥.
• Actions for what you copy: format JSON, convert colors, open links and paths.
• Secret Guard: copied API keys, tokens and passwords are never saved, and you can clear them from the clipboard in a click.

See how to use clipboard history for the full setup.

Whichever you use, check these three things

1. Passwords. A clipboard manager that saves everything also saves passwords you copy. Look for one that skips password managers or detects secrets. NotchMind skips 1Password, Bitwarden, KeePassXC, LastPass, Dashlane, Passwords and Keychain Access, and you can add more.
2. Where it’s stored. Some sync your history through a cloud service; others keep it on your Mac only. Both are fine, as long as you know which.
3. How you’ll open it. The best clipboard history is the one you’ll actually use. A keyboard shortcut that pastes on ↩ makes it a habit.

Quick answer

On macOS Tahoe, open Spotlight and press ⌘ 4. On older macOS, or if you want more, install a clipboard manager: Maccy for something tiny and free, Raycast if you want a launcher too, or NotchMind if you’d like it in the notch with actions and secret protection.