How to

Does a Mac have clipboard history?

Yes, since macOS Tahoe 26. Press Command-Space to open Spotlight, then Command-4, and Spotlight lists what you copied recently: text, links, pictures and files, newest first. Click one to copy it again, or type to search. On macOS 27 it keeps your copies for 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days, and you can turn it off. On macOS Sequoia 15 and older there is no history: the clipboard holds only your last copy, so you need a clipboard app.

Last updated: October 2026

Written by the developer of Crest, 7 October 2026. Everything here was tried that day on a 16-inch MacBook Pro (Mac16,7) on macOS 27.0.1, with five test copies made for the purpose (a line of text, a link, a picture, a file copied in the Finder, and a line marked as a password the way password managers mark them); the pictures show only those, and they were deleted afterwards. Maccy, Paste and Raycast are described from their own sites, read the same day; we did not install them.

Open your clipboard history

Press Command-Space to open Spotlight.
Press Command-4, or click Clipboard beside the search field. The first time, macOS asks whether to allow results from the clipboard.
Click an item, or its copy button, to put it back on the clipboard, then paste as usual. Type to narrow the list.

Spotlight's Clipboard view on macOS 27 listing four test copies: a file called Launch-notes.txt, a TIFF image, a link to example.com and a line of text, each with the time it was copied and a copy button

Command-Space, then Command-4: our four test copies, newest first. The copy marked as a password, made just before, is not there.

In our test it kept the text, the link, the picture and the file. Searching found the text and the link by their words; searching for the file’s name found nothing, so scroll for files and pictures. Right-click an item for Paste, Copy, Share and Delete Item, which removes just that one.

Passwords and private copies

Apple’s guide warns that “sensitive information may appear” in the history and does not say whether passwords are skipped. So we tested it: a password manager marks what it copies as private, and we made a copy with that same mark. It never appeared in Spotlight’s history, and searching for its words found nothing. An app that does not mark its copies, or a password you select and copy yourself from a note, is ordinary text and will show up.

How long it keeps things, and how to turn it off

Open System Settings, then Spotlight, and scroll to the bottom.

The Results from Clipboard switch in System Settings, Spotlight, with the warning that personal and sensitive information may appear, a menu set to 8 hours, and a Clear Clipboard History button

System Settings, Spotlight, at the bottom: the switch, how long history stays, and the button that clears it.

Results from Clipboard turns the whole feature on or off.
Clipboard history is available in Spotlight sets how long: 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days. This Mac was set to 8 hours.
Clear Clipboard History deletes all of it. To delete one item, right-click it in Spotlight instead.

This is how macOS 27 lays it out. Apple’s guide for macOS 26 calls the switch Clipboard Search and lists no time choices, so on Tahoe the settings may look different.

On macOS 15 Sequoia and older

There is no clipboard history. The clipboard holds one thing, and each copy replaces it. Finder’s Edit, Show Clipboard shows what is on it now, and in Terminal pbpaste prints it. Anything copied before that is gone, and no setting brings it back. To keep a history on an older Mac you need a clipboard app, which only remembers what you copy after you install it.

A clipboard in the notch: Crest

Crest’s Clipboard is part of its free tier, with no account, and it runs on macOS 14 Sonoma and later, so it also covers Macs that Spotlight’s history does not. Press Control-Option-V from any app and it opens under the notch with the search ready, or point at the notch and pick the Clipboard widget.

Crest's Clipboard screen under the notch: a search field with the Control Option V keys, the same four test copies with Command 1 to 4 beside them and a pin each, and the line Passwords and private copies are never kept — Crest's Clipboard, opened with Control-Option-V: the same four copies, searchable, each one a keystroke away. The rest of the list on this Mac is cropped out.

How much it keeps: your last 50 copies by default, or 25, 100 or 200 in Settings, Shelf and clipboard. Pinned clips stay on top and never count toward the limit.
What it keeps: text, links, pictures, files, colours and code, each with the app it came from. Command-1 to Command-9 copy one again.
What it skips: anything an app marks as private, the same mark Spotlight respected in our test. Our password-marked copy never reached Crest’s list either.
Turning it off: Settings, Shelf and clipboard, Keep a clipboard history. Right-click a clip to delete it.

Clipboard apps compared

App	Price, read 7 October 2026	Keeps	Skips passwords	Open with
macOS 26 and 27 (Spotlight)	Free, built in	30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days	Skipped our password-marked copy; Apple does not promise it	Command-Space, then Command-4
Crest	Free tier	Your last 25 to 200 copies, 50 by default, plus pins	Yes: anything an app marks as private	Control-Option-V, or point at the notch
Maccy	Free from GitHub, $9.99 on the App Store; open source (MIT)	200 copies by default	Yes: copies marked private, and named password managers	Shift-Command-C
Paste	$2.49 a month or $29.99 a year on its site; $3.99 a month on the App Store	Not stated on its pricing page	Not checked	Its own shortcut
Raycast	Free; Pro $10 a month	Months on the free plan, unlimited on Pro	Yes, by its own page	Raycast’s launcher

Only macOS and Crest were tried on this Mac. Raycast’s own pages give two different limits for the free plan, so we give none.

Maccy is the classic free one: open source, a plain list from the menu bar, and the same private-copy rule. Paste is the one to pick if you want your history on your iPhone and iPad too. Raycast is a launcher that includes a clipboard history. Spotlight’s history is free and built in, but it is a list with a time limit, not a place to pin snippets.

Sources

Apple, Mac User Guide: Search your Clipboard history in Spotlight on Mac, Change Spotlight settings (and its macOS 26 version), and How to copy and paste on Mac. Read 7 October 2026.
Maccy: github.com/p0deje/Maccy (README and source, 2.7.1 of 10 August 2026), maccy.app and its Mac App Store listing. Paste: pasteapp.io/pricing and its Mac App Store listing. Raycast: raycast.com/pricing and its Clipboard History page. Read 7 October 2026; none installed.
Crest 6.4.0, tried on this Mac on 7 October 2026 with test copies only, and its source: ClipboardManager.swift, ClipboardHotkey.swift and the clipboard settings.

FAQ

Does a Mac have clipboard history?

Yes, since macOS Tahoe 26. Press Command-Space, then Command-4, and Spotlight lists what you copied recently, text, links, pictures and files. On macOS 15 Sequoia and older there is no history; the clipboard holds only the last copy.

What is the shortcut for clipboard history on a Mac?

Command-Space opens Spotlight, then Command-4 switches it to the clipboard. There is no single shortcut like Windows-V. Crest's Clipboard opens with Control-Option-V from any app.

How long does Mac clipboard history keep items?

On macOS 27 you choose 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days in System Settings, Spotlight, under Results from Clipboard. Older copies stop showing in Spotlight.

How do I clear clipboard history on a Mac?

To delete one item, right-click it in Spotlight's Clipboard view and choose Delete Item. To delete everything, open System Settings, Spotlight, and click Clear Clipboard History, or use the More button beside Spotlight's search field.

Does Mac clipboard history save passwords?

In our test on macOS 27, a copy marked as private, the way password managers mark what they copy, never appeared in the history. Apple does not promise this, and a password you copy as plain text from a note will show up.

Why is my Mac clipboard history not working?

Check that your Mac runs macOS 26 or later, that Results from Clipboard is on in System Settings, Spotlight, and that you allowed clipboard results the first time you pressed Command-4. Items older than the time you chose are hidden.

Can I recover something I copied before I turned history on?

No. Neither Spotlight nor a clipboard app can bring back a copy made before it was keeping history. Only the current clipboard is there, which pbpaste in Terminal prints.

Try Crest free

Download it with no account. Now Playing, the Shelf, the Clipboard and window snapping are free for good, and signing in gives you 7 days of Pro with no card. Pro, with Take and Minutes, is $24.99 once, on 2 Macs, or $2.99 a month.

Download Crest for macOS Get Crest Pro, $24.99

macOS 14 Sonoma or later · signed and notarized by Apple · 7-day refund

Keep reading: Snap windows on a Mac · Are notch apps safe? · File shelf apps for the notch · Crest vs The Boring Notch · Best Mac notch apps in 2026 · Crest overview