ClipboardHistory

An open-source, lightweight clipboard history manager for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel).

Features

• Clipboard History - Keeps a history of everything you copy (up to 200 items)
• Search - Quickly find items in history
• Persistent Storage - History is saved to disk and survives app restarts
• Launch at Login - Option to start automatically when you log in
• Settings - Configurable history limit, launch at login, clear history
• Menu Bar App - Lives in your menu bar, out of the way
• Lightweight & Fast - Single-file Swift app, minimal resource usage
• Privacy First - All data stored locally, nothing sent anywhere

Installation

Requirements

• macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later

Build from Source

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/flaviomuniz/clipboard-history
cd ClipboardHistory

2. Build the app:

chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

3. Install the app:

cp -r ClipboardHistory.app /Applications/

Usage

1. Copy - Use Cmd+C normally to copy any content
2. Open History - Click the clipboard icon in the menu bar
3. Paste - Click "Copy" on any item to put it back on your clipboard
4. Search - Type in the search box to filter items
5. Delete - Click the trash icon to remove individual items
6. Settings - Click the gear icon to configure preferences

How It Works

ClipboardHistory monitors your system clipboard every 0.5 seconds. When it detects a new text copy, it saves it to a local JSON file at ~/Library/Application Support/ClipboardHistory/history.json. The history persists across app restarts and system reboots.

Project Structure

ClipboardHistory/
├── ClipboardHistorySimple.swift    # Main app (single-file)
├── build.sh                        # Build script
├── create_icon.swift               # Icon generation script
├── ClipboardHistory.icns           # App icon
├── images/                         # Screenshots
├── LICENSE                         # MIT License
├── CONTRIBUTING.md                 # Contribution guidelines
└── README.md                       # This file

Privacy & Security

• All data is stored locally on your Mac
• No network requests, no analytics, no telemetry
• Completely open-source for auditing
• History stored at ~/Library/Application Support/ClipboardHistory/

Roadmap

• Global keyboard shortcut (e.g. Cmd+Shift+V) to open history
• Image and rich text support
• Keyboard navigation (arrow keys + Enter to paste)
• Configurable history expiration
• Homebrew cask for easy installation
• Code snippets support with syntax highlighting
• Categories and tags for organization

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

This project is open-source under the MIT License.

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

Credits

Developed by @flaviomuniz