# How to find an old copy in NotchStar clipboard history

> To find an older copy in NotchStar, open Clipboard and type part of it. Search covers all 50 kept items, even though the list shows only the newest 30 rows.

Canonical: https://www.notchstar.com/help/find-an-old-copy-in-clipboard-history/
Last updated: 2026-11-04

Published 2026-11-04.

To find something you copied a while ago, open the notch, pick **Clipboard** and type a few letters from it. NotchStar searches all of the 50 items it keeps, so an old copy that is no longer in the first screen of rows still turns up.

## Steps

1. Hover over the notch and pick **Clipboard**.
2. Click the search box and type a word you remember from the copy. Capital letters and accents do not matter.
3. Scroll the matches if there are several, then click the one you want. It goes back on the clipboard.

## What to type for each kind of item

- **Text:** a word or part of a word from it.
- **Links:** a piece of the address, such as the site name.
- **Files:** part of the file name, or part of its folder path. See [files copied in Finder](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-history-files-copied-in-finder/).
- **Images:** the word image, or a number from the size.

## If it is not there

The copy may have been pushed out by 50 newer ones, may have come from a password manager that marks it concealed, or may have been made before NotchStar started or before you last quit it. See [why an item is missing](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-item-missing-from-history/).

## Limits

NotchStar has no history from before it started running, and none of it survives a quit. The Mac itself does not keep an older copy to recover.

More about searching is in [how to search your clipboard history](https://www.notchstar.com/help/search-your-clipboard-history/). The tool is on the [Clipboard feature page](https://www.notchstar.com/features/clipboard/).

## Quick answers.

### Can I recover a copy from before NotchStar was open?

No. NotchStar only records copies made while it is running.

## Keep reading.

- [Clipboard history that lives in your notch](https://www.notchstar.com/features/clipboard/): Searchable clipboard history in the Mac notch: text, links, images and files. Skips password manager copies. Click any item to copy it again.
- [How to search your clipboard history in NotchStar](https://www.notchstar.com/help/search-your-clipboard-history/): Open the notch, pick Clipboard and type to filter 50 recent copies. Search ignores capitals and accents, and typing image finds copied images.
- [How many items NotchStar clipboard history keeps](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-history-limit-50-items/): NotchStar keeps the 50 most recent clipboard items, at most 10 of them images. Older items drop off, and the list shows the 30 newest matches at a time.
- [Why an item is missing from NotchStar clipboard history](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-item-missing-from-history/): If a copy is missing from NotchStar clipboard history, check the password manager flag, the 50 item limit, launch time and quits, in that order.

## More in Clipboard.

- [How to search your clipboard history in NotchStar](https://www.notchstar.com/help/search-your-clipboard-history/): Open the notch, pick Clipboard and type to filter 50 recent copies. Search ignores capitals and accents, and typing image finds copied images.
- [How many items NotchStar clipboard history keeps](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-history-limit-50-items/): NotchStar keeps the 50 most recent clipboard items, at most 10 of them images. Older items drop off, and the list shows the 30 newest matches at a time.
- [Why your NotchStar clipboard history clears when you quit](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-history-clears-on-quit/): NotchStar keeps clipboard history in memory only, so quitting the app clears it. Nothing is written to disk, and password manager copies are skipped.
- [How to paste an older item from NotchStar clipboard history](https://www.notchstar.com/help/paste-from-notchstar-clipboard-history/): Open the notch, pick Clipboard, click the item you want, then press Command V where you want it. NotchStar copies the item back and does not paste for you.
- [What happens when you copy the same thing twice in NotchStar](https://www.notchstar.com/help/copy-again-moves-clipboard-item-to-top/): Copy the same text, image or file again and NotchStar moves it to the top of the clipboard list instead of adding a duplicate. Here is how it matches.
- [What NotchStar does with files you copy in Finder](https://www.notchstar.com/help/clipboard-history-files-copied-in-finder/): NotchStar records files copied in Finder as files, with their icon, not as text names. Click a row to copy the file again. Search matches name and path.