Clipboard history on Mac: find, preview and paste
ClipOrigin is a clipboard manager for Mac that keeps copied text, links, code, rich text and images in a searchable local history. Its floating panel lets you inspect an item and paste it into the application you are using. The direct-download edition requires macOS 15 or later and Apple Silicon.
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Try the built-in clipboard history first
macOS Tahoe 26 or later includes clipboard history in Spotlight. Press Command–Space, then Command–4; enable clipboard search if asked. Select a retained item, press Command–C, then Command–V in the destination. Check this built-in option before adding another tool. ClipOrigin also runs on macOS 15+ with Apple Silicon and brings screenshot editing and recorded clipboard items into one workflow.
Find something you copied earlier
The system clipboard holds the current copied item. ClipOrigin keeps a history of items recorded while its capture service is running. It cannot reconstruct items that were overwritten before they were recorded.
For example, copy an authored meeting note, a documentation URL and a code snippet. Open the panel and search a distinctive word from the note; you can inspect the result before replacing anything in your destination document.
- Press Control–Option–V to open the floating panel.
- Press Command–F and enter a word from the item, or filter by content type. The library also supports source-app filtering.
- Select a result with the arrow keys. Press Space to open or close its preview.
- Press Return to paste into the destination application, or Command–C to copy the item.
Find an annotated screenshot after copying something else
You can copy an annotated screenshot again if ClipOrigin recorded that image and still retains it. Copying text afterwards replaces the current clipboard item, but does not by itself remove a retained history entry. Look for the finished image in history; the unmodified original is a different choice. An image that was never recorded, or has already been removed, cannot be recovered by history search.
- Copy the finished annotated image while recording is enabled, then copy a different text item.
- Press Control–Option–V and filter the history by images.
- Select the screenshot and press Space to inspect the annotations before copying it.
- Press Command–C, return to an application that accepts pasted images, and press Command–V.
Keep formatting when useful; remove it when needed
Use Shift–Return for plain-text paste when a destination should supply its own font and style. Normal paste preserves the supported original clipboard payload.
Markdown tables, checklists, highlighted code and rich text have readable previews. The preview presentation does not rewrite the stored original. Rendering has performance limits, while copying the original text preserves its full contents.
Keep frequently used clips and control collection
Add frequently used clips to Favorites and find them with the Favorites filter. They keep their chronological position. Pin to Screen is a separate image action. Shift selects a range; Command toggles individual items. Deleted history goes to Recently Deleted.
Pause recording before copying private material, exclude applications that should not be recorded, and set retention and storage limits. A lifetime license supports three Macs; that device allowance does not imply cloud synchronization of clipboard history.
Questions & answers
Does ClipOrigin need a cloud account for clipboard storage?
Clipboard history and image assets are stored on the Mac. Trial registration and license verification use the network; optional connected AI clients have their own permissions.
Why does an old item not appear?
It may have been copied before ClipOrigin was recording, copied from an excluded app, or removed by your retention settings. History search only finds retained, recorded items.
Why does a screenshot paste as text or a file path?
An image, a file path and an image reference are different inputs. Select the finished image and copy it, rather than its path or reference. The destination must support image paste; otherwise export the finished image and use that app’s file upload. A local path or cliporigin:// reference does not automatically upload image bytes to a website.
Should I use ClipOrigin if I already have Alfred or Maccy?
Start with the clipboard manager you already use. Alfred Powerpack provides searchable history for text, images and file links; Maccy focuses on fast clipboard history and is open source. Check each product’s official distribution route for pricing. To evaluate ClipOrigin, capture a screenshot, annotate it, copy something else, then find the annotated image in history and paste it again. Try this task during the website edition’s 14-day trial and decide whether combining capture, annotation and history helps your work. ClipOrigin does not replace Alfred’s launcher or Workflows ecosystem.
Apple’s clipboard documentation
Try it on your Mac.
14-day full-feature trial. macOS 15+ and Apple Silicon.
Download ClipOrigin