A pure clipboard tool for Mac
PasteCube automatically records the text, links, code, images, and rich text you copy. Summon it with a global hotkey and paste back with a single keystroke. As fast as Spotlight, as fluid as your input flow. Free to download — unlock your full history with a one-time purchase whenever you need it.
Summon with the global hotkey ⌃⌥V, auto-detect text / links / code / images / rich text, and paste back with a single keystroke. Native macOS, data stays on your Mac.
Stay in your flow
Copy, summon, paste — one efficient reuse in three steps.
Global hotkey
⌃⌥V by default, registered as a system-level hotkey. Record any combo you like in Settings; failed registrations roll back automatically so you never lose your shortcut.
Smart content recognition
Automatically detects and categorizes text, links, code, rich text (HTML), and images. Code snippets get a language label (Swift, Python, JavaScript, Go, …) and each category has its own color.
Paste back · focus returned
Press Return or double-click to write an item back to the system clipboard. The panel hides and focus returns to your previous app — press ⌘V to paste. No window switching, and no Accessibility permission required.
Live Text for images
Powered by Apple VisionKit. Select and copy text directly inside a copied image, just like in Preview. Extract what you need from screenshots in seconds.
Colorful tags
Tag frequently used items (important notes, email templates, code snippets). Tagged records are pinned forever — never evicted by capacity — and can be filtered with one click.
Full-text search & triple filters
Search across content, source app, link domain, and code language. Category + tag + keyword filters work together, so even thousands of records resolve instantly.
Edit & pin
Edit text or rich-text content and write it back to the clipboard. Pin frequent items to the top, or drag to reorder — your history, your rules.
Source app at a glance
Every record shows the source app’s real icon, name, and relative time. Links display the full URL and open in your browser with a click.
Private by design
All history and images live only in the app’s private directory on your Mac. No uploads, no ads, no tracking. A first-launch privacy gate explains everything before you start.
Three steps to reuse anything
Stays out of your way, feels like part of the system.
Copy
Copy text, links, code, or images anywhere. PasteCube records them automatically and deduplicates repeats so your list never floods.
Summon
Press the global hotkey ⌃⌥V (customizable in Settings). The command palette appears near the top-center of the screen with the search box focused.
Paste
Type to filter, or navigate with ↑↓. Press Return and the item is written back to the clipboard; the panel hides and focus returns to your previous app, where ⌘V pastes it.
Your data belongs to you
The clipboard is sensitive data. PasteCube is local-first by design.
All local storage
History and images stay in the app’s private directory (JPEG-compressed). Nothing touches a server.
No ads, no tracking
No ads, no behavioral telemetry, no third-party privacy-collection SDKs.
Minimal permissions
Reads the system clipboard, nothing more. No Accessibility permission is requested, no keystrokes are simulated, no input is injected.
Full control
Clear all history or revoke consent anytime. Deletion removes data from your Mac for good.
Free to download, unlock when you need it
Every feature is free to try, with access to your latest 20 items. Unlock your full history with a one-time in-app purchase — no subscription, no auto-renewal.
Use it forever. No account, no time limit.
- Access your latest 20 clipboard items
- Search and filter within those 20 items
- Global hotkey (⌃⌥V by default)
- Smart recognition of 5 content types + code language
- Paste back with focus returned to your previous app
- Live Text OCR for images
- Create and manage colorful tags (unlimited)
- Inline editing, pin to top, drag to reorder
One-time in-app purchase. Yours forever, with free updates.
- Everything in Free
- Full history: access every item saved on your Mac
- Search everything: content, sources, and links across your entire history
- Unrestricted tags: filter by tag across your entire history
- Everything already saved becomes visible the moment you unlock
- Tied to your Apple ID — use it on all your Macs
- Restore Purchase built in: no repeat payment after a reinstall
Pro is a StoreKit non-consumable in-app purchase (“PasteCube Pro (Lifetime)”) — a one-time purchase with no subscription, no auto-renewal, and no hidden fees. Items you copy while on the free tier are still saved in full on your Mac; they all appear the moment you unlock, so nothing is lost. The final price and currency are whatever your regional App Store displays. Purchases and refunds are handled by Apple.
Technical specifications
A genuine native macOS app — not a wrapper, not a WebView.
Frequently asked questions
Answers about installation, permissions, data, and billing.
What is PasteCube?
PasteCube is a native macOS clipboard productivity tool developed independently by CortexGrid (矩见). It automatically records the text, links, code, images, and rich text you copy, and lets you summon a command palette with a global hotkey and paste items back into any app.
Which macOS versions are supported?
PasteCube requires macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later and runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
What is the default hotkey? Can I change it?
The default global hotkey is ⌃⌥V (Ctrl+Alt+V). You can record any combination in Settings → Global Shortcut. If a new combination fails to register because it’s taken by the system or another app, PasteCube automatically rolls back to the last working one.
Do I have to paste manually? What permission is needed?
Activating an item writes it back to the system clipboard, hides the panel, and returns focus to the app you were using — press ⌘V there to paste. None of this needs macOS Accessibility permission: PasteCube does not request it, simulates no keystrokes, and injects no input.
Which content types are supported?
PasteCube automatically detects and categorizes five types: plain text, links (URLs), code snippets, images, and HTML rich text (e.g. a formatted paragraph copied from a browser). Code gets a language label, and images support selecting text inside them via Live Text.
How much history can it store?
PasteCube keeps up to 3,000 clipboard records on your Mac, and items you tag are never evicted by capacity — that applies to Free and Pro alike. What differs is how much you can reach: Free gives you the latest 20 items, while Pro unlocks access to everything saved.
What do I get for free? Is there a time limit?
The free tier never expires and needs no account. You can access your latest 20 clipboard items, and nothing is feature-crippled: the global hotkey, recognition of all five content types with code-language detection, paste-back, Live Text OCR for images, creating and managing colorful tags, inline editing, pinning, and reordering all work. The only limit is reach — search, category filters, and tag filters apply within those latest 20 items.
What does unlocking Pro add?
Three things: full history, so you can access every item saved on your Mac; search everything, covering content, source apps, and links across your entire history with no item limit; and tag filtering that reaches your entire history. Note that “unrestricted tags” refers to that filtering reach — creating tags was never limited on the free tier.
Are the items I copied before unlocking still there?
Yes. PasteCube always writes records to disk in full; the free tier only limits how far back you can reach, it never discards the rest. The moment you unlock Pro, everything previously saved appears in your list.
Is my data synced or uploaded anywhere?
No. All history and images are stored only on your Mac. Nothing is sent to any third-party server, and there is no account system. The app’s only network capability is App Store purchase verification — it accesses no other network resources.
How do I pay? Is it a subscription? Is there a refund policy?
PasteCube is free to download, and Pro is unlocked with a one-time in-app purchase (US$9.99) — a StoreKit non-consumable, so it is not a subscription and never auto-renews. Buy once, use forever, with free updates. Purchases and refunds are handled by Apple through Account → Purchase History in the App Store.
Do I have to buy again on a new Mac or after reinstalling?
No. The purchase is tied to your Apple ID. Sign in with the same Apple ID on the new machine, open PasteCube’s paywall or Settings, and click “Restore Purchase” to get Pro back.
How do I clear history or uninstall?
Use “Clear Clipboard…” in the panel’s ⋯ menu to wipe all history. To uninstall, move PasteCube from Applications to the Trash. Residual data lives in ~/Library/Application Support/PasteCube and can be removed manually.
Make every copy count
Download PasteCube free from the Mac App Store and turn scattered copies into assets you can reuse anytime. Unlock your full history with a one-time purchase whenever you need it.
Download free on the Mac App Store