Clipboard history for macOS

Clipboard history, for you and your agents.

Native clipboard history for macOS. Agents on this Mac search, read and write it over local MCP, each token with the scopes you grant.

Local MCP server, 8 tools
Customizable AI actions
Encrypted collections
Unlimited history, 18 free tools

Version 2.6.0 · macOS 14 or later Free · See what Pro adds →

PastePaw on a Studio Display and a MacBook Pro — a strip of clips along the bottom of one screen, three themes side by side on the other

Agent-readyPro

Built for agents — in both directions.

Agents reach the clipboard over MCP: authorize Claude Code, the ChatGPT desktop app, Gemini CLI or Codex CLI, and they can search what you copied days ago, write their own results back, and sort both into collections. The other direction needs no agent — summarize, translate, explain code or fix grammar on a text clip without leaving the panel.

The server is local. It runs on your Mac, reachable only from this machine.
Scoped per token. You decide what each one may read, write or delete, with per-collection allow-lists.
Secure collections stay sealed. They are never exposed to any client.

search_clipsread_clipsave_clip delete_cliplist_clipslist_collections move_to_collectionpaste_status

Claude · connected to PastePaw over local MCP

Put today’s Hacker News front page in my Hacker News collection.

Sure — reading your collections first.

list_collections save_clip × 5 → Hacker News 5 clips saved

Filed. Nothing left your Mac — the server is local.

PastePaw

History Hacker News5 Bug Triage5

A misalignment of AI in mathematics

Hacker News · 833 points

I spent $220 on Google app ads — 60% were robots

Hacker News · 455 points

The EPA plans to scrap public review rules

Hacker News · 442 points

google.com/goto: Google’s anti-scraping update

Hacker News · 319 points

Logo Programming

Hacker News · 266 points

↑↓select↵paste⌘Fsearchescclose

Themes4 free, the rest Pro

Two layouts, 20 themes, 29 looks.

Choose a horizontal bar along the bottom of your screen or a vertical sidebar on the left or right, and switch whenever you like. Every theme is drawn natively and supports light and dark mode.

History Hacker News Bug Triage

Google Chrome

Launch checklist: - Update App Store subtitle

98 chars

Figma

782 KB

Preview

596 KB

Terminal

git checkout -b feature/demo-mode xcodebuild -scheme PastePaw

88 chars

Slack

Customer quote: "PastePaw removed so much context switching."

86 chars

Visual Studio C…

let isDemoMode = AppBuildConfig .allowsDemoMode

67 chars

PastePaw

⌘F

HistoryHacker NewsBug Triage

Launch checklist: update App Store su…

Google Chrome · 2m ago

Hero layout v3

Figma · 3m ago

Pricing banner crop

Preview · 5m ago

git checkout -b feature/demo-mode

Terminal · 4m ago

Customer quote: “PastePaw removed so…”

Slack · 5m ago

let isDemoMode = AppBuildConfig.allo…

Visual Studio Code · 6m ago

Architecture sketch

Figma · 6m ago

↑↓select↵paste⌘Fsearchescclose

Default · bottom strip Cyberpunk · side column Wabi-sabi · bottom strip Liquid Glass · side column

Find the thing you copied last Tuesday.

Type and the list narrows to the clips that contain what you typed. PastePaw matches the first 300 characters of each clip, and any note you added to it.

PastePaw

check ⌘F

History Launch Assets6 Bug Triage5 Code Snippets6

Launch checklist: update App Store subtitle

Google Chrome · 2m ago

Hero layout v3

Figma · 3m ago

Crash repro frame

Preview · 3m ago

git checkout -b feature/demo-mode

Terminal · 4m ago

Pricing banner crop

Preview · 5m ago

Customer quote: “PastePaw removed so much…”

Slack · 5m ago

let isDemoMode = AppBuildConfig.allows…

Visual Studio Code · 6m ago

↑↓select↵paste⌫delete⌘Fsearchescclose

Clip tools

The right tool for whatever you copied.

Select a clip and PastePaw offers the tools that fit it — 18 in all, four of them for images. Markdown renders as a live preview with syntax-highlighted code.

JSONBase64URLYAML XMLMarkdownHTMLJWT HashColorTimestampNumber Base QR CodeOCRLive TextLift Subject

SlackText

RawYAMLBase64 URLHashQR Code

{
  "quote": "PastePaw removed
    so much context switching",
  "from": "support",
  "stars": 5
}

quote: >-
  PastePaw removed so much
  context switching
from: support
stars: 5

ewogICJxdW90ZSI6ICJQYXN0ZVBh
dyByZW1vdmVkIHNvIG11Y2ggY29u
dGV4dCBzd2l0Y2hpbmciLAogICJm
cm9tIjogInN1cHBvcnQiLAogICJz
dGFycyI6IDUKfQ==

86 characters12 wordsCopy

Secure collectionsPro

Passwords and keys, encrypted and locked away.

Keep passwords and keys in a collection that is encrypted at rest and unlocks with Touch ID or your Mac password. It relocks after the idle time you set, and whenever the Mac sleeps or the screen locks. MCP clients cannot reach its contents.

PastePaw

⌘F

History Launch Assets Bug Triage Code Snippets Customer Voice All Images 🔒 Secrets

Touch ID to unlock Unlock Use Password…

Staging API key

1Password · 2h ago

Database connection string

Terminal · 3h ago

Signing certificate password

Keychain · yesterday

↑↓select↵paste⌫delete⌘Fsearchescclose

Multi-select

Pick several, paste them in one go.

⌘-click as many clips as you need, then paste or drag them in the order you picked. Text clips merge into a single paste; whether several images or files go in together depends on the receiving app.

Release notes.txt

Launch checklist: update App Store subtitle

git checkout -b feature/demo-mode

Customer quote: “PastePaw removed so much context switching.”

History 3 selected

Google Chrome

Launch checklist: - Update App Store subtitle

98 chars

Figma

782 KB

Terminal

git checkout -b feature/demo-mode

88 chars

Preview

596 KB

Slack

Customer quote: "PastePaw removed so much context switching."

86 chars

Visual Studio C…

let isDemoMode = AppBuildConfig

67 chars

And the rest

Everything else a clipboard should do.

No cap on history

Keep every clip for as long as you like. No item cap, no time limit, and none of that changes on the free app.

Return to paste, or drag it out

With auto-paste on and the Accessibility permission granted, Return puts the clip into the app you were just in. Or drag it out of the panel into any app that takes that kind of content.

AI actions you write yourselfPro

Four presets to start — summarize, translate, explain code, fix grammar. Add your own: each action is a prompt with a title and an icon, and its result can replace the clip’s text or show on its own. Text clips only, with your own API key.

Smart CollectionsPro

Files clips automatically on 5 kinds of rule — content type, link, source app, keyword, and any combination of those.

Private by design

A local SQLite database on your Mac. No cloud and no account — clips never sync anywhere. Anonymous statistics record how the app is used and how much you keep in it, never what you copied, and you can turn them off in Settings.

Sensitive-app filtering

Anything you copy in a password manager, or in any other app you exclude, is never recorded.

Native SwiftUI speed

A real Mac app, not a web wrapper — it opens the instant you press the hotkey.

Markdown preview

Rendered Markdown with syntax-highlighted code blocks, right inside the panel.

Free and Pro

Free does the job. Pro does the rest.

Free

Unlimited history, search and all 18 clip tools. No account and no expiring trial — enough for everyday use.

Pro

$2.99/ month

$19.99 / yearSave 44%
$29.99 one-timelifetime

Use Pro on every Mac signed in to the same Apple Account.

What you get

Free

Pro

Clipboard historyNo item cap, no time limit

✓

Search across your history

✓

Clip toolsAll 18, including JSON, YAML, Base64, QR and OCR

✓

CollectionsStandard collections and drag-to-file

✓

ThemesDefault in both layouts, plus Cyberpunk and Hacker Terminal as a strip

4 of 29 looks

All 29

Multi-select paste and drag

✓

Smart collectionsAuto-filing on 5 rule types

—

✓

Secure collectionsEncrypted at rest, unlocked with Touch ID or your Mac password

—

✓

Local MCP server8 tools, scoped per token

—

✓

AI actions4 presets, add your own; your own API key

—

✓

Prices shown in US dollars. Your local price is set by the App Store.

Frequently asked questions

Anything else, email [email protected].

How do I open PastePaw?

Press ⌘⇧V. You can change the hotkey in Settings.

Can AI tools read my clipboard history?

Only if you let them. PastePaw's MCP server stays off until you create a token, and each token carries its own read, write and delete scopes plus a per-collection allowlist. Secure collections are never exposed, regardless of what a token is allowed to do.

Is my clipboard data secure?

Your history lives in a local SQLite database inside the app's sandbox. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account. PastePaw does send anonymous usage statistics — how the app is used and how much you keep in it, never your clips — which are listed in full in the privacy policy and can be turned off in Settings. Clips you put in a Secure Collection are additionally encrypted at rest and unlocked with Touch ID or your Mac password.

Can I exclude certain apps from being recorded?

Yes. Add any app to the ignore list in Settings and PastePaw will never record what you copy there — password managers are the obvious case.

How do I delete my clipboard history?

Settings → Data Management → Clear History wipes every clip. Individual clips go with ⌫, and Secure Collections can be deleted whole.

Does PastePaw work on Apple Silicon?

Yes — it is a universal binary and runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, on macOS 14 or later.

Keep what you copy.

Free on the Mac App Store. Requires macOS 14 or later.