Everything you copy, one shortcut away.
macOS remembers exactly one thing you copied. ClipStack remembers all of them — text, links, images, files, colours — searchable, private, and pasted back with ⌘⇧V.
Version 1.1.0 · 9 Sept 2026 · about 2 MB · no account, no tracking · first-launch note
On a Mac, the clipboard forgets the moment you copy again.
Windows has had Win+V since 2018. macOS still holds a single item — copy something else and the previous one is gone for good.
- You copy a link, then copy a phrase to search for it, and the link is gone.
- You cut a paragraph to move it, get distracted, copy something else, and the paragraph is lost.
- You need three things from one page in another form — so you tab back and forth six times.
- The colour you copied from Figma an hour ago, the file you copied from Finder, the code snippet from a chat: all overwritten, none retrievable.
- Nothing in macOS shows you what is on the clipboard before you paste it.
What it costs.
Small losses, dozens of times a day: re-finding, re-copying, re-typing. Clipboard managers exist, but most are paid, subscription-based, sync your clipboard to a cloud you did not ask for, or are heavy Electron apps. ClipStack is a native, one-purpose Mac utility that keeps everything on your Mac.
A clipboard that keeps a history — and stays on your Mac.
ClipStack watches the clipboard from the menu bar, records every copy with its full formatting, and gives you a Spotlight-style panel to find any of it and paste it straight back into the app you were in.
One shortcut
Press ⌘⇧V anywhere. Type to search, ⏎ to paste into the app you came from. Change the shortcut in Settings.
Private by design
No account, no sync, no analytics. History lives in one file in your Library folder; optional encryption with a key in your keychain.
Updates itself
Checks once a day and installs new versions with one click. Every download is signature-checked before it replaces anything.
- Every type, full fidelity
- Instant search
- Detail pane
- Pin what matters
- Paste as plain text
- Password-manager aware
- Exclusions and pauses
- Always on
- Native and light
1
shortcut to everything you copied
0
accounts, sync or analytics
< 4 MB
native Swift, no frameworks
14+
macOS Sonoma and later
Built for the way you actually copy things.
Nine things it does, none of them optional extras.
Every type, full fidelity
Text, rich text, links, images, files and colours. A copied table pastes back as a table; a styled paragraph keeps its styling.
Instant search
Full-text and fuzzy search over everything, ranked by relevance and recency. Results appear as you type.
Detail pane
See the whole text, the full image, every file in a multi-file copy, or the colour swatch before you paste.
Pin what matters
Pinned items stay at the top, never expire, and never count against the history limit.
Paste as plain text
⌘⇧⌥V strips formatting. Give it its own global shortcut if you use it a lot.
Password-manager aware
Copies from 1Password, Bitwarden, KeePassXC, Apple Passwords and others are never recorded. Secrets it detects are badged or discarded.
Exclusions and pauses
Never record from chosen apps. Pause recording for 5 minutes, an hour, or until you say so.
Always on
Starts at login and keeps recording until you quit it. Menu-bar only — no Dock icon, no window in your way.
Native and light
Swift and SwiftUI, Liquid Glass on macOS 26, under 4 MB, no frameworks. Universal for Apple silicon and Intel.
Up and running in two minutes.
Five steps. The second one is the only permission it ever asks for.
01
Install
Download the installer and open it. It puts ClipStack in Applications and starts it. On the first open macOS may say it cannot verify the developer — see the first-launch note below.
02
Allow it to paste for you
Press ⌘⇧V, pick an item and press ⏎. macOS asks for Accessibility access once: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → turn on ClipStack. Without it ClipStack still records and searches; you press ⌘V yourself.
03
Copy as usual
Nothing changes about ⌘C. Everything you copy appears in the history, newest first, with the app it came from.
04
Find and paste
⌘⇧V opens the panel in the centre of your screen. Type a few letters, arrow to the item, ⏎. It pastes into the app you were just using.
05
Make it yours
Settings (⌘, from the panel, or the menu-bar icon): change the shortcut, history size, retention, appearance, the detail pane, exclusions and encryption.
THEN
Press ⌘⇧V.
That is the whole workflow.
Keyboard reference
inside the panel| ⌘⇧V | Open the clipboard panel (configurable in Settings → General) |
| type | Search — fuzzy, case-insensitive, ranked |
| ↑↓ | Move the selection (wraps at the ends) |
| ⏎ | Paste the selected item into the app you were in |
| ⌘C | Copy the item to the clipboard without pasting |
| ⌘⇧⌥V | Paste as plain text |
| ⌘P | Pin or unpin |
| ⌘⌫ | Delete the item |
| Space | Quick Look an image |
| esc | Close |
Where it earns its keep.
Filling forms from a document
Copy the name, address, ABN and reference number in one pass, then paste each into its field from the panel. No tabbing back.
Developers
Commands, tokens, snippets, error messages. Search by a fragment you remember; paste as plain text into the terminal.
Writers and editors
Cut a paragraph, keep working, paste it an hour later — with its formatting. Keep boilerplate pinned.
Designers
Colours copied from Figma or Sketch show as swatches with their hex values; images and screenshots are previewed at full size.
Support and sales
Pin the replies, links and account IDs you send twenty times a day and paste them from anywhere.
Research
Collect quotes and links from many tabs, then paste them into your notes in one sitting — each with the app and time it came from.
A native utility, not another subscription.
Clipboard managers exist. Most ask for money, an account, or your clipboard in their cloud. ClipStack asks for none of them.
ClipStack
- Free, with no account to create
- History never leaves your Mac
- Native Swift and SwiftUI, under 4 MB
- Every copy type, at full fidelity
- Updates itself, signature-checked
- Password-manager aware by default
Others
- Paid, often as a subscription
- Sync your clipboard to a cloud you did not ask for
- Heavy Electron apps
- An account before you can paste anything
Simple price for all.
There is one version of ClipStack and it costs nothing. No trial, no tiers, no upgrade nag.
Free
$0forever
- Every feature, for every Mac you own
- No account, no subscription, no tracking
- Updates included, delivered inside the app
- macOS 14 Sonoma and later · Apple silicon and Intel
About 2 MB. Opens in two minutes.
Get ClipStack for your Mac.
Free. Tell me who you are and what you copy most — it shapes what gets built next — and the download starts right away.
Questions people ask.
macOS says ClipStack "can't be opened", "is damaged" or "could not be verified". What now?
ClipStack is not yet notarized with an Apple Developer ID, so Gatekeeper refuses it once on first open. It is a one-time step per Mac:
- Open the .pkg installer. When macOS refuses it, click Done.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the ClipStack message. Confirm with your password.
- The installer runs and starts ClipStack. It opens normally from then on, and updates arrive inside the app.
If you used the .dmg instead: drag ClipStack to Applications, then in Terminal run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ClipStack.app and open it.
Is my clipboard sent anywhere?
No. History is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/ClipStack/ and never leaves your Mac. The only network request ClipStack makes is the daily update check, which fetches one small file and carries nothing about you. You can turn it off in Settings → General.
Why does it need Accessibility access?
For one thing only: pressing ⌘V in the app you came from after you choose an item. Reading the clipboard, the global shortcut and search all work without it.
Does it record passwords?
Copies from known password managers and anything marked “concealed” by the source app are never recorded. Text that looks like a key, token or card number is badged, and can be discarded automatically if you prefer.
How do updates work?
ClipStack checks this site once a day. When a new version exists it shows the release notes and installs with one click, verifying the download against a signature built into the app first. You can also use Check for Updates… from the menu-bar icon at any time.
Can I change the shortcut?
Yes. Menu-bar icon → Change Shortcut…, or Settings → General. Click the shortcut box and press the new combination. It must include ⌘ or ⌃.
How do I stop or remove it?
Quit from the menu-bar icon. To stop it starting at login, turn it off in Settings → General or in System Settings → General → Login Items. To uninstall, delete ClipStack from Applications; Settings → Advanced → Reset Database removes the history first if you want a clean slate.
Which Macs does it run on?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon and Intel. Liquid Glass appears on macOS 26; earlier versions get the standard vibrant material.
Tell me what slows you down. I build tools for it.
ClipStack came out of one small daily annoyance. If something in your work has the same shape — a repetitive step, a missing utility, an integration that should exist — describe it here and I'll come back with a proposal.
Get ClipStack for your Mac.
Free, private, and one shortcut away. Version 1.1.0, about 2 MB.