Stop Paste from appearing unexpectedly
Paste opens only when you press one of its shortcuts. If Paste or Paste Stack keeps appearing when you don't expect it, the cause is almost always one of those shortcuts being triggered by accident, and you can change or clear it in Paste Settings.
Why Paste appears
Two shortcuts open Paste, and nothing else does:
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Activate Paste (default Shift-Command-V) shows or hides Paste.
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Activate Paste Stack (default Shift-Command-C) opens the Paste Stack, the temporary stack that collects everything you copy.
If one of these key combinations is pressed — by accident, by a remapped key, or by another app or macro firing the same combination — Paste or Paste Stack opens. Paste Stack appearing "on its own" usually means Shift-Command-C is being triggered somewhere.
Change or clear the shortcuts
You can reassign or remove both shortcuts in Paste Settings → Shortcuts.
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Open Paste Settings → Shortcuts.
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Find Activate Paste or Activate Paste Stack.
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Set a different key combination that you won't press by accident, or clear the shortcut to turn it off.
If another app or a key-remapping tool is sending the same combination, change the shortcut in that app too, or change Paste's shortcut so they no longer clash.
For the full list of what each shortcut does, see Keyboard shortcuts.
Things to know
- Clearing a shortcut only stops Paste from opening that way. You can still open Paste and Paste Stack from the menu bar whenever you need them.
If Paste still appears unexpectedly after changing these settings, contact us with the details and we'll help you track it down.