What is clipboard history?
Clipboard history is a list of the things you recently copied, so you can paste an older item again. A Mac normally keeps only the last copy, and a new copy replaces the old one. A history keeps several.
Why it matters
Copying a second thing no longer loses the first. If you copy a link, then an address, then a name, all three stay available. A history also lets you search what you copied and pick one item back out, which saves going back to the source to copy it again.
What it holds
In NotchStar, the Clipboard tool keeps up to 50 recent copies. Text goes in as plain text, copied images are shrunk so the list stays small, and files copied in Finder are kept as files, not as their names. Click a row and that item goes back on the clipboard, ready to paste. Typing in the search box filters the list.
What to watch for
A history records whatever you copy, which can include passwords. Good tools skip items a password manager marks as concealed, using the concealed pasteboard type. An app that does not mark its copies cannot be detected, so clear the history if you are unsure.
Check where a tool stores its list. NotchStar keeps it in memory only and clears it when you quit, which is explained in why clipboard history clears on quit.
Related
Apple’s Universal Clipboard moves the latest copy between devices but does not keep a list. See how to see your clipboard history on a Mac, how to search it and NotchStar’s Clipboard tool.
