Free Clipboard Managers for Mac: Built-in and Open Source Options

Disclosure: we make EasyPaste, a paid clipboard manager coming to the Mac App Store. This page is about the free ones, and for many people one of them is all they need. Licences, version numbers and requirements were checked on each project's GitHub page and Homebrew on 4 October 2026.

At a glance

Spotlight's clipboard history (already installed)

On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, press ⌘ Space to open Spotlight, then ⌘ 4, and you'll see things you copied recently, with search. It costs nothing and there's nothing to download, so try it first.

It's a Spotlight view rather than a full clipboard manager: there's no pinning, no snippets and no single shortcut that opens it and pastes. If you find yourself opening it several times a day, that's when an app is worth installing. More in Spotlight clipboard history vs a clipboard manager.

Maccy

Maccy is the free clipboard manager most people end up recommending, and for good reason. It's open source under the MIT licence, lives in the menu bar and is built around the keyboard: press ⇧ ⌘ C, type a few letters, press ⌥ Return and the item is pasted. You can pin items, paste without formatting, and tell it to ignore certain apps. Since late 2024 it also reads the text in images you copy, so a copied screenshot can be found by a word in it.

Needs macOS Sonoma 14 or later. Download from maccy.app, its GitHub releases page, or with brew install maccy.

Watch out for fake Maccy sites. Maccy's own README warns that look-alike domains such as maccyapp.net and maccyapp.com have distributed malware. maccy.app is the only official site.

Clipy

Clipy is an open-source (MIT) menu bar clipboard extension. Alongside your history it keeps a menu of snippets, saved bits of text you paste often, organised into folders. It's actively maintained and supports macOS Tahoe 26.

Needs macOS Ventura 13 or later. Download from clipy-app.com, GitHub, or with brew install --cask clipy.

CopyQ

CopyQ is the most configurable of the free options. It's open source (GPL-3.0) and runs on Linux, Windows and macOS, so it suits people who move between systems. It stores text, HTML and images, sorts items into tabs, and has a command-line interface and scripting, so you can automate what happens to things you copy. The trade-off is that it looks and feels less like a native Mac app than Maccy or Clipy.

Needs macOS 13 or later. Download from the CopyQ site, GitHub, or with brew install --cask copyq.

Flycut

Flycut is a small, open-source (MIT) clipboard manager aimed at developers, based on the older Jumpcut. Press ⇧ ⌘ V to step through recent clippings and paste one. It's deliberately simple and text-focused. Its last GitHub release is from 2020, though the project is still maintained and there's also a Mac App Store version.

Download from GitHub, the Mac App Store, or with brew install --cask flycut. It needs Accessibility permission to paste.

PasteBar

PasteBar is a free clipboard manager for Mac and Windows with unlimited history, plus boards, tabs and collections for organising clips you want to keep. Its source code is public, but it's licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial with a limited commercial exception, so it isn't open source in the strict OSI sense. Its latest release on GitHub is v0.7.0 from June 2025.

Download from pastebar.app or GitHub.

Raycast (free, if you want a launcher)

Raycast replaces Spotlight with a launcher that has a clipboard history built in. According to Raycast it supports text, images, colours and links, and can keep history for up to three months. It's a good choice if you'd use a launcher anyway, and more than you need if all you want is a clipboard history.

Downloading a free clipboard manager safely

A clipboard manager sees everything you copy, including the occasional password or bank detail, so where you get it from matters more than with most apps.

• Use the official source: the project's own website, its GitHub releases page, the Mac App Store, or Homebrew. Avoid download portals and look-alike domains.
• Check it opens without a warning. macOS checks that apps from the web are notarised by Apple. If you're told the app "can't be opened" or is damaged, don't work around it unless you're sure of the source.
• Turn on password skipping. Most clipboard managers can ignore copies from password managers, and you should check that setting after installing.
• Run one at a time. Two clipboard managers both record every copy and can fight over the same shortcuts.

Is a paid clipboard manager worth it?

Often it isn't. If you mostly copy text and want it back quickly, Maccy or Clipy will do the job for free. Paid apps earn their price with things like device sync, a visual board of images, or extra tools around the history.

EasyPaste, our app, is one of those: $4.99 a month or $17.99 a year on the Mac App Store (coming soon), with a 7-day free trial. It collects screenshots from your screenshot folder automatically, without you copying them, makes the text in them searchable, shows your history as visual cards grouped by app and type, and adds a notch shelf, pins, categories and a colour picker. It needs macOS Sonoma 14 or later on Apple silicon and doesn't sync between devices. Our comparison of free and paid clipboard managers puts it next to the others.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free clipboard manager built into the Mac?

Yes, from macOS Tahoe 26. Spotlight keeps a clipboard history: press ⌘ Space, then ⌘ 4. On earlier versions the Mac only keeps the last thing you copied, and you'll need an app. See how to see clipboard history on a Mac.

What's the best open-source clipboard manager for Mac?

For most people, Maccy: it's MIT-licensed, actively maintained, native and fast. Clipy (MIT) is the pick if you want snippets, and CopyQ (GPL-3.0) if you want scripting or the same app on Linux and Windows.

What does Reddit recommend?

Maccy is the name that comes up most in Mac forum threads about free clipboard managers, with Clipy close behind. The threads ranking for this search on Ars Technica and Privacy Guides both point to those two.

Are free clipboard managers safe?

The open-source ones above can be inspected by anyone and keep your history on your Mac. The risk is mostly fake download sites, so install from the official sources listed here.

What's the keyboard shortcut for clipboard history on a Mac?

macOS doesn't have a single one. In Spotlight it's ⌘ Space, then ⌘ 4. Apps add their own: Maccy uses ⇧ ⌘ C, Flycut ⇧ ⌘ V, and EasyPaste ⌃ ⌘ V, and most let you change theirs.