Start working with Paste on your iPhone

Paste on iPhone works best when used together with Paste on Mac, giving you access to everything you copy across your Mac and iOS devices. Instead of relying on the system clipboard, which only keeps the most recent item, Paste helps you keep copied content around so you can return to it later.

On iPhone, Paste tightly integrates with the system, so previously copied content is available directly within the apps you use.

Working with your clipboard history

When you open Paste, your clipboard history appears as a chronological list of items you’ve copied, including items copied on your other devices.

Tap any item to copy it back to the system clipboard so you can paste it into any app manually.

You can preview and edit items directly in Paste. Touch and hold an item to open its context menu, where you can inspect its contents, make changes, or take additional actions before using it again.

Capture clipboard content on iPhone

Paste for iOS inherits most of the essential features of the macOS version. However, due to iOS limitations, apps can’t access the clipboard while running in the background. As a result, Paste can’t automatically capture what you copy the moment it happens.

To work within these limitations, Paste introduces Action and Share extensions, along with the Paste Keyboard. Together, these extensions give you a consistent way to collect content on iPhone, even when Paste isn’t open.

When working in any app, you can use the Copy to Clipboard History action from the system share sheet to save content directly to Paste. From the same share sheet, you can also choose the Paste share extension to decide whether an item should be added to your clipboard history or pinned to a selected pinboard right away.

Learn how to enable and use Paste Action and Share extensions →

Clipboard content is also captured when you copy something and then open Paste. iOS may ask for permission when Paste accesses the clipboard. You can change this behavior in iOS system settings to avoid seeing the prompt repeatedly.

Learn how to turn off the Allow Paste prompt →

Find items with search

To start searching your clipboard history and pinboards on iPhone, tap the search icon in the bottom toolbar. The search field appears at the top of the keyboard, ready for you to enter your query. Results update instantly, so you can narrow things down as you type.

Paste searches across all available information for each item, including titles, content, and other metadata. Search also works inside images, making it possible to find text in screenshots or copied images.

When search is active, a filters button appears above the search field, giving you access to all available filters to further refine your results. You can filter items by content type, source application, date, and more. Paste may also suggest relevant filters as you search.

Learn more about search and filters →

Keep important items with pinboards

Pinboards let you save and organize content you want to keep, making it easy to return to important items later. Unlike your clipboard history, which may clear over time, pinboard items stay until you remove them.

On iPhone, you can switch between pinboards by tapping the current list name in the bottom toolbar. This opens a list of all your pinboards, letting you navigate between them. From the same screen, you can create new pinboards, as well as edit or delete existing ones.

Pinboards are useful for ongoing projects, frequently used links, notes, templates, or reference material you rely on regularly.

Learn more about pinboards →

Using Paste Keyboard

Paste Keyboard gives you access to your clipboard history from any app where you can type. It integrates smoothly with iOS, bringing the familiar Paste experience from the desktop to your mobile devices.

You can switch to the Paste Keyboard just like any other keyboard by touching and holding the globe icon, then selecting Paste. From there, you can browse your clipboard history and pinboards and paste content directly into the current app. You can also touch and hold items to access additional actions, such as copying as plain text.

The Paste Keyboard is the fastest way to reuse copied text, links, and images without leaving what you’re doing.

Learn how to enable and use Paste Keyboard →

Use Paste across all your devices

Paste on iPhone works together with Paste on Mac and iPad, keeping your clipboard history and pinboards in sync.

Items you save on your iPhone are securely synced using your private iCloud and made available on your other devices, so you can copy something on one device and reuse it on another. Your data stays private and protected, stored in your own iCloud account.

For the best experience, download Paste for Mac to enjoy a faster, more powerful workflow.