Paste faster
The two paste modes
Both modes copy the clip. Only one of them also presses ⌘V for you.
The two modes
ClipBuddy has one preference that decides what the Enter key does with a selected clip. It lives in Settings, General, Paste Items, and it is called Paste to the app in front.
Clipboard mode (the default, toggle off). Enter copies the clip and tells you so. You press ⌘V wherever you want it. Nothing else happens, no permission is involved, and no part of the app touches Accessibility.
Active-app mode (toggle on). Enter copies the clip and then pastes it into the app you were using before the picker opened. ClipBuddy brings that app forward and sends the paste itself.
The clip is always copied first
This is the part worth knowing. Both modes put the clip on the clipboard before anything else happens, so ⌘V works in either one. Active-app mode adds a step, it does not replace one. A paste that cannot be sent for you still leaves you holding the clip.
Why the permission is asked so late
Sending a keystroke to another application is a system level action on macOS, and macOS gates it behind the Accessibility permission. ClipBuddy asks for it at the moment you turn the toggle on, and never before. A clipboard manager should not demand a system wide permission before it will show you your own history.
If you turn the mode on and skip the permission dialog, Settings grows a row called Allow ClipBuddy to paste for you with an Enable Accessibility Access button, so it is one click away when you are ready. Until then, Enter keeps copying and ⌘V keeps working.
What follows the mode
The preference is not only about the Enter key. Anything that pastes for you reads it:
- Multi-select. Mark clips with ⌘M, then ⌘⏎. In Clipboard mode they are merged and copied as one, with the separator you chose in Settings. In Active-app mode with Accessibility granted, they are pasted one after another.
- The Paste Stack. Same rule: pasted for you when the mode and the permission allow it, copied for a manual ⌘V otherwise.
- Burn after paste. A burned clip is removed from your history either way. The pasteboard is scrubbed only when ClipBuddy did the pasting, because scrubbing it in Clipboard mode would delete the clip out from under your own ⌘V.
Tips
- Try Clipboard mode for a week before changing anything. One extra keystroke costs very little, and it keeps the permission list on your Mac shorter.
- Turning the toggle off is enough to stop the behaviour. Revoking the permission in System Settings is the thorough version.
Switch ClipBuddy to Active-app paste
- 1 Find the setting
Open Settings, then General, then the Paste Items group. The toggle is called Paste to the app in front. Use the search box in Settings if you would rather type the name.
- 2 Turn it on
Switch it on. This is the only moment ClipBuddy asks for the Accessibility permission, because sending a paste to another app is what needs it.
- 3 Grant the permission
Approve ClipBuddy in System Settings, Privacy and Security, Accessibility. If you dismissed the prompt, Settings shows an Allow ClipBuddy to paste for you row that opens it again.
- 4 Use it
Press ⌘⇧V, select a clip and press Enter. The picker closes, your previous app comes forward, and the clip is pasted into it.
Frequently asked questions
Which mode am I in by default?
Clipboard mode. Out of the box ClipBuddy never needs, and never asks for, the Accessibility permission. Enter copies the clip and confirms with a message, and you press ⌘V.
What happens if I turn Active-app paste on but do not grant Accessibility?
The clip is still copied, so ⌘V still works, and ClipBuddy offers once to help you enable the permission. It does not fail silently and it does not nag on every paste.
Does Enter ever leave my clipboard untouched?
No. Both modes put the clip on the clipboard first. Active-app mode then presses ⌘V for you. That is why a paste can never end up doing nothing.
Does this change multi-select and the Paste Stack?
They follow the same preference. In Clipboard mode, marking clips with ⌘M and pressing ⌘⏎ merges them onto the clipboard for a manual ⌘V. In Active-app mode with Accessibility granted, they are pasted for you one after another.
