Start working with Paste on your Mac
In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to start using Paste on your Mac. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or simply someone who wants to save time and work more efficiently, Paste can be a game-changer. So let’s dive in and explore how to use its features to streamline your workflow and get more done in less time.
Unlimited Clipboard capacity
The default clipboard on your Mac only stores the last item you’ve copied, and the previous data is lost as soon as you copy anything new. With Paste, every item you copy is saved automatically, ensuring that none of your previously copied data is overwritten by the most recent item.
Paste works in the background and requires no additional actions from you. It automatically saves everything you copy, including text, images, links, and files, with no limitation on the type of content.
Paste is compatible with every application on your Mac. Whether you’re working in a document, an image editing software, or any other app, anything you copy using the standard ⌘ CmdC shortcut or via a context menu will be saved in your Clipboard History in Paste.
Access Clipboard History
Accessing your Clipboard History in Paste is simple. You can activate Paste by using the default shortcut ⇧ Shift⌘ CmdV (which can be changed in Settings) or by clicking on the P icon in the main menu bar. Once opened, you’ll see a horizontal timeline of everything you have copied.
Each item in the clipboard history is displayed with an easy-to-read thumbnail that shows the type of item it is (such as text or image), when it was copied, and what app it was copied from. This makes it easy to quickly find what you’re looking for.
To navigate through the history, you can use the arrow keys, touchpad, or mouse.
You can also use the system-wide Quick Look preview feature by right-clicking on an item and selecting Preview or pressing the space key.
Learn more about Paste keyboard shortcuts →
Paste any item to any app
To have the best experience with Paste, activate the Direct Paste feature and allow Paste to access the accessibility features of your Mac in System Settings.
Learn more about how to enable Direct Paste →
To paste a clipboard history or a pinboard item into a document or application, activate Paste and do any of the following:
- Select an item and press the return key.
- Double-click on an item.
- Right-click on an item and select Paste to … in the context menu.
- Drag an item from the clipboard history and drop it where you want to paste it.
To paste multiple items at the same time, simply hold down the ⌘ Cmd button and select the desired items using your mouse. Then, paste the items to the desired destination using one of the options described above.
To learn about additional ways to paste items stored in your clipboard, check out these features:
- Paste as plain text: strip formatting and paste plain text →
- Quick Paste: paste frequently used items with a keyboard shortcut →
- Paste Stack: save groups of items and paste them in a specific order →
- Edit and rename items: make changes to an item before pasting it into another application →
Search
To retrieve something you have copied, type a few relevant keywords into the search field and let Paste do the work. You can also search for a specific type of content and the application you originally copied it from, and Paste’s intelligent algorithm will identify all possible matches.
Learn more about how to use search →
Organize with Pinboards
To help you keep your copied items organized, Paste allows you to create Pinboards, which act like folders to store frequently used items. You can create multiple Pinboards and arrange them in any order that suits your needs.
Control your data
To customize your Paste preferences, you can set the duration for how long your clipboard history is stored in Settings → General. The default limit is set to one month to optimize your disk space use.
Additionally, you can choose to exclude certain data-sensitive apps from being accessed by Paste in Settings → Rules. Password managers are automatically excluded by default.
iCloud sync and sharing
No matter where you are or which device you’re using, you can always access your clipboard history and pinboards with Paste. Whether you’re working on your iMac at home or presenting on your iPad at a business lunch, your content will appear seamlessly across all your Mac and iOS devices. All your data is securely stored in your private iCloud. You can enable or disable sync in Settings → Sync.
You can also easily share your Clipboard History items with others via Email, Messages, Facebook, Twitter, AirDrop, or any other system-sharing method. To do so, simply right-click on the item you want to share, select Share, and choose the desired sharing method.