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 26 or later and Apple Silicon.
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.
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
Pin a reusable snippet instead of searching for it every day. Shift selects a range and Command toggles individual items. Deleted history goes to Recently Deleted first.
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.
Try it on your Mac.
14-day full-feature trial. macOS 26+ and Apple Silicon.
Download ClipOrigin