Macs have evolved, but Clipboard is still a copy of the past
In my first book, Dr. Macintosh (1989), I described the Mac clipboard thusly:
“The Clipboard is a special area of RAM set aside to hold text or graphics you Cut or Copy. The Clipboard can contain only one selection at a time: the last thing you Cut or Copied. When you use the Paste command, the current contents of the Clipboard will be pasted. Because the Clipboard is held in RAM, shutting down, restarting, or crashing causes the loss of its contents.”
While almost everything else about the Mac has gotten better, faster and more elegant since then, my description of the Clipboard remains accurate. The Clipboard in 2019 still only holds one item at a time, and still loses its contents when you crash, shut down or restart your Mac.
A one-item-at-atime Clipboard isn’t bad, but a Clipboard that remembers the last 20, 50, 100, or more items you’ve Cut or Copied is ever so much better.
I’m not sure why Apple hasn’t tackled this issue and added a Clipboard history over the course of three decades. On the other hand, for as long as I can remember there have been numerous thirdparty utilities that include a modern, multi-item Clipboard history. I don’t like to use a Mac without one.
Once enabled, these utilities preserve every item you Cut or Copy, and then make it easy to recall and Paste them.
Search the Mac App Store for “Clipboard” or “Clipboard History,” and you’ll discover a plethora of free and inexpensive apps that include Clipboard history.
I haven’t tried them all, but I have tried many, and have yet to find one that’s worse than the underpowered single-item Clipboard included with macOS.
So here are two recommendations — one is free and the other is a whopping $7.99 — to get you started. Grab a copy of CopyClip by Fiplab in the Mac App Store. It’s a barebones Clipboard history utility, but it is a risk-free way to sample the benefits of Clipboard history.
Then, if you like it (and you will), check out CopyClip 2 ($7.99), also by Fiplab, which adds myriad additional features, including search, keyboard shortcuts and the ability to edit individual clippings.
One more thing: Several multi-function utilities I use regularly and love offer a Clipboard history feature, including Keyboard Maestro, Alfred and LaunchBar. They’re more expensive than CopyClip 2, but they do much more than just Clipboard history, making them well worth considering.
Resources:
CopyClip (Free). Fiplab Ltd., at the iTunes store
CopyClip 2 ($7). Fiplab Ltd. https://fiplab.com/
Keyboard Maestro ($36). Stairways Software. https://www.keyboardmaestro.com
Alfred Powerpack (£23). Running with Scissors. https://www.alfredapp.com
LaunchBar ($29). Objective Development. https://www.obdev.at/ products/launchbar