How to Clear Clipboard History on Mac (Maccy, Spotlight, Terminal)

Quick answer: macOS itself keeps only one clipboard item, so you clear it by copying something harmless or running pbcopy < /dev/null in Terminal. If you use a clipboard manager such as Maccy, open its menu and choose Clear (or press ⌥⌘⌫) to wipe the stored history.

You copied a password, an API key, or a bank number. Ten minutes later you’re screen-sharing, and your clipboard history is one keystroke from being visible. Clearing it takes seconds, but where you clear it depends on which tool is holding the data.

Which clipboard are you actually clearing?

“Clipboard history” can live in several places on a Mac. Find your situation first:

Where the data lives	What it holds	How to clear it
macOS system clipboard	Only the most recent copy	Copy something else, or `pbcopy < /dev/null`
Maccy	History you configured (default 200 items)	Menu → Clear, or ⌥⌘⌫
Spotlight clipboard history (macOS 26 Tahoe)	Recent items, short retention	Spotlight/System Settings
Other clipboard managers	Varies by app	Each app’s own clear command
Other Apple devices	Universal Clipboard (transient)	Copy something else on the device

How do I clear the macOS clipboard itself?

Classic macOS has no built-in clipboard history viewer. The system pasteboard holds the current item (in several formats at once) until you copy something new or log out or restart.

Option 1: Overwrite it

Select a single space or any harmless text and press ⌘C. The sensitive item is replaced immediately.

Option 2: Empty it from Terminal

Run this in Terminal:

pbcopy < /dev/null

This copies zero bytes into the pasteboard, leaving it empty. If you want a keyboard shortcut for it, you can wrap that command in a Shortcuts or Automator action .

How do I clear clipboard history in Maccy?

Maccy App stores everything you copy locally on your Mac, so clearing it is entirely in your hands. You have three levels of control.

Delete one item

Open Maccy Mac (default shortcut ⇧⌘C), highlight the entry, and press ⌥⌫. Use this when you only need to remove the one password you just copied.

Clear everything

Open the Maccy Clipboard menu and choose Clear at the bottom, or press ⌥⌘⌫. Depending on your version and settings, Maccy may keep pinned items. Pinned entries are meant to survive, so unpin and delete them separately if you want a full wipe .

Clear automatically on quit

If you’d rather not think about it, look in Maccy → Settings for the option to clear history on quit, and the related option to also clear the system clipboard . This is a good default on shared or work machines.

How do I stop sensitive data from being saved at all?

Clearing is reactive. Prevention is better, and Maccy gives you a few layers:

Ignore apps. In Settings → Ignore, add apps (for example your password manager) so anything copied from them is never recorded.
Ignore pasteboard types. Well-behaved password managers mark secrets as concealed or transient, and Maccy respects these markers by default .
Ignore patterns. You can ignore copied text matching a regular expression, such as a key prefix like sk- or a card-number pattern. Test your regex on dummy data before relying on it.
Pause tracking. If your version offers an “Ignore next copy” or pause-history option, use it before copying something sensitive .

What about Spotlight’s clipboard history on macOS Tahoe?

Recent macOS versions added a clipboard history view to Spotlight. If you’re on one, treat it as a separate store from Maccy: clearing Maccy does not clear it, and vice versa. Check Spotlight’s settings in System Settings for the clipboard history toggle and any clear option, and confirm retention details against Apple’s current documentation .

Common mistakes

Clearing the manager but not the system clipboard. The last item may still be pasteable with ⌘V. Run the Terminal command or copy a blank character too.
Forgetting Universal Clipboard. If Handoff is on, a copy on your iPhone can appear on your Mac, and the reverse. Overwrite on the device where you copied it.
Assuming a restart clears everything. It clears the system pasteboard, but a clipboard manager’s saved history is stored on disk and usually survives restarts.
Trusting history size limits as privacy. A smaller history only shortens the exposure window; it doesn’t remove sensitive items sitting in it.

Is Maccy’s history private?

Maccy is free, open-source, and local-first: history stays on your Mac rather than being synced to a cloud service. That removes one risk, but not local exposure, such as someone opening the menu on your unlocked screen. Clearing and ignore rules are what close that gap.

Frequently asked questions

Does macOS have a clipboard history?

Historically, no: the system keeps one item at a time. Newer versions add a limited history in Spotlight , and a manager like Maccy provides a full, configurable one.

How do I clear the clipboard in Terminal?

Run pbcopy < /dev/null. It replaces the clipboard contents with nothing.

Does clearing Maccy delete pinned items?

Pinned items are designed to persist, so check and remove them manually if needed .

Does restarting my Mac clear clipboard history?

It empties the system clipboard, but a clipboard manager’s stored history generally remains until you clear it.

The short version

Overwrite or empty the system clipboard for the current item, clear your manager for the stored history, and set ignore rules so sensitive copies never get saved in the first place. What’s the one app on your Mac you’d add to the ignore list first? If you want a free, open-source option that does all of this locally, Maccy is built for it.