How to Use a Clipboard Manager on Mac
The everyday jobs people use ClipBuddy for: finding something you copied hours ago, expanding snippets, extracting text from screenshots, and filling forms in one pass.
What do you want to get done?
ClipBuddy is a native Mac clipboard manager, but it does a lot more than remember what you copy. Here are the everyday jobs people actually use it for: each takes seconds, and everything stays on your Mac.
Find anything you copied
You copied a tracking number, an OTP or a link an hour ago; it is gone from your clipboard, but you need it now.
- Press ⌘⇧V to open ClipBuddy anywhere.
- Start typing: it searches your whole clipboard history instantly.
- Press ⏎ to copy it back, then ⌘V pastes it into the app you’re in.
- It even finds the words inside screenshots, read directly on your Mac.
Stop retyping the same text (snippets)
Your email signature, address, support replies and boilerplate: typed again and again.
- Press ⌥⌘T to open Snippets and add your reusable text.
- Give it a keyword like ;sig.
- Switch on Expand keywords as you type in Settings, Snippets, and typing ;sig in any app turns into the full snippet.
- Or press ⌘⇧V, type ;sig, hit ⏎: the snippet is on your clipboard, and ⌘V drops it in.
- Add tokens: {{date}}, {{clipboard}}, or fill-in fields like {{fill:Name}}, filled in as you go. Free keeps 10 snippets; Pro has no limit.
Copy the text out of a screenshot
You screenshotted something and need the text without retyping it.
- Open the image clip in ClipBuddy and choose Copy Text.
- Select the exact word, line or block you want and copy it.
- Recognition runs on your Mac: nothing is uploaded.
Turn a clip into an action
You copy a link, a hex colour, a phone number or JSON, and want to do something with it.
- Open any clip in ClipBuddy.
- One tap: make a QR code, Translate on macOS 14.4+ between supported languages, Open Link, or Reveal in Finder.
- Transform text: change case, trim, Base64, URL-encode, pretty/minify JSON, hash.
- Edit a clip before you paste, without changing the saved copy.
Fill forms in one pass (multi-select)
A signup form wants your name, email and address: three things you keep re-copying.
- Press ⌘⇧V and mark each clip with ⌘M, in the order you need.
- Press ⌘⏎: ClipBuddy joins them and copies them as one block, ready to ⌘V.
- Or use the Paste Stack (⌘⌥S) to queue them and paste them back one at a time.
Pick the emoji you need
- Press ⌘⌥E for a searchable picker of 2,300+ emoji (flags and skin tones included), generated on your Mac.
Keep work and personal apart
- Use the filter chips: Text, Images, Links, Code, Files, Snippets, Emoji.
- Pin the clips you reach for often; add custom labels with their own hotkeys.
Stay completely private
- Your clipboard content stays on your Mac. No cloud, no tracking.
- Concealed copies are never saved. If you enable Detect & vault secrets, a recognized credential is locked in the Touch ID Vault on Pro; detection is off by default.
- Exclude sensitive apps (banking, password managers) from capture.
Frequently asked questions
How do I paste something I copied earlier on Mac?
Press Command-Shift-V to open ClipBuddy, type to search your history, then press Enter to copy the item back to your clipboard and Command-V to paste it where you were working.
Can I copy several things and paste them all at once?
Yes. Open ClipBuddy with Command-Shift-V and mark each clip with Command-M in the order you need, then press Command-Enter to copy them as one block. The Paste Stack (Command-Option-S) is the alternative when you want to paste them back one at a time instead.
How do I copy the text out of a screenshot on Mac?
Open the image clip in ClipBuddy and choose Copy Text, then select the word, line or block you want. Text recognition runs on your Mac, so the image is never uploaded anywhere.
Does ClipBuddy expand snippets as I type in any app?
Yes, since ClipBuddy 3.4. Turn on Expand keywords as you type in Settings, Snippets, and typing a keyword like ;sig in any app turns it into the snippet. It is off until you switch it on. You can also press Command-Shift-V, type the keyword and hit Enter, then Command-V to paste.