How to collect citations and quotes with clipboard history on a Mac

While researching, copy each quote, link or citation as you find it. NotchStar’s Clipboard tab keeps your last 50 copies, so you can go through them afterwards and click any row to put it back on the clipboard for pasting. You do not need to alternate between the source and your document for each one.

Steps

1. Keep NotchStar running while you read. It watches the system clipboard every half second and adds each new copy to the list.
2. Copy the quote or the citation text from the page. Do the same for the next source. Copying the same text twice moves it to the top instead of adding a duplicate.
3. When you are ready to write, open the notch and choose Clipboard.
4. Scroll the list or type in the search field. Search ignores capital letters and accents, so a search for cafe finds Café. A few words from the quote are enough.
5. Click a row. The item goes back on the clipboard and a checkmark confirms it. Switch to your document and paste with Command + V.
6. Repeat for the next item. Rows are in order of last use, newest on top.

What shows in each row

Each row shows one line of text, so a long quote is cut off in the list, but clicking copies the whole text. Links get a link icon. Files you copied in Finder, such as a PDF, show their real icon. Copied images appear with a thumbnail, and typing image in the search field finds them.

Limits for research

• Plain text only. Italics, bold and footnote numbers do not survive. Check titles and journal names after pasting.
• 50 items, 10 images. Older items drop off the bottom. A long session needs a checkpoint where you paste what you have into a document.
• Cleared on quit. Nothing is saved to disk.
• It does not format a citation. There is no APA or MLA output. You paste exactly what you copied.
• Only 30 matches are listed at a time, so narrow the search if the list looks cut.
• Copies from password managers are skipped, because they mark them as concealed. An app that does not mark its copies cannot be detected.

A safer rhythm

For anything you cannot lose, paste it into a document as you go and treat history as a backup. If you need a place to jot which source each quote came from, use the Quick Note. The search help page and the page on history clearing on quit cover the details.