What is clip and cue?

A tiny macOS menu bar clipboard manager that remembers your last 9 clipboard copies — text, rich text, images, and files — so you can paste any of them back later.

How do I paste an earlier copy?

Press Command-Option-V to open a floating picker, then press a number key 1–9 (or use the arrow keys and Return). It auto-pastes straight into the app you were just using.

How much does clip and cue cost?

It is free for personal use, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). Commercial use requires permission.

What macOS version does it require?

macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later. The app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a security warning.

Where is my clipboard history stored?

Your history is stored on your own Mac and can be wiped any time with Clear. Copies above the size cap (default 20 MB) are skipped.

clip and cue — Copy now. Paste later.

Name: clip and cue
Author: Michael Moore

big paste energy

Small app. Big memory.

Four small things it does so you never lose a copy again.

Remembers copies

Every copy slides into a numbered history. Re-copy something and it jumps back to the top — no duplicates.

Text, images & files

Rich text, screenshots, copied files — all captured with a tidy preview so you know what's what.

Paste with ⌘⌥V

Hit the shortcut, press 1–9, done. It auto-pastes straight into whatever app you were just in.

Survives reboots

Your history persists across quit and restart, and the app can launch quietly at login.

how to use it

Three taps to muscle memory

It lives in your menu bar and stays out of the way until the moment you need something back.

1

Just keep copying

Use ⌘C like always. clip and cue watches quietly and stacks each copy into a numbered list — newest on top. Nothing to think about.

clip and cue ⌘⌥V

1Quarterly report — final numbers look strongText

2Image · 1920×1080PNG · 2.3 MB

3https://clipandcue.com/downloadText

4report.pdf +2 moreFiles

5hello@clipandcue.comText

Clear · ExportHow to · Preferences · Quit

2

Summon the panel — ⌘⌥V

A floating picker appears right where you're working. Press 1–9 to grab an item, or arrow through with ↑ ↓ and hit ⏎. Esc dismisses it.

Paste from clip and cue

1Quarterly report — final numbers look strongText

2Image · 1920×1080PNG · 2.3 MB

3https://clipandcue.com/downloadText

4report.pdf +2 moreFiles

1–9 pick↑↓ move⏎ pasteesc close

3

It pastes itself

clip and cue drops the item straight into the app you were just using — no extra ⌘V needed. (First time, macOS will ask for Accessibility access so it can paste for you.)

mike — -zsh — 80×24

mike@mac ~ % ▌

⌘⌥V

Drop saved keys into the terminal

T t.tutone

I have all the links right here

www.preshow.link/hesgotmynumber

www.toyrobotmedia.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WTdTwcmxyo

Thanks for the quick work Jenny

⌘⌥V

iMessage

Fire a stack of links into a chat

Paste your saved images

⌘⌥V

No more tab-grab-tab — paste a stack of images

dns · clipandcue.com

A records → GitHub Pages

Type

Host

Value

A

@

A

@

A

@

A

@

⌘⌥V

A whole list of records, in order

captures everything

If you can copy it, you can cue it

Go on, it's ok to keep copying, pretty much anything.

Plain text Rich text Images Files

An honest privacy note

Your history stays on your Mac. clip and cue stores it unencrypted on disk at ~/Library/Application Support/clipandcue/ — nothing leaves your computer by default. Items password managers mark as concealed are ignored (you can toggle that off in Preferences if you want a full clipboard log). Hit Clear any time to wipe it.

What gets captured: every representation the source app put on the pasteboard, so a Keynote shape pasted back into Keynote returns as an editable object, not a flattened image. Vector and app-native types get four times the per-item cap to make sure they fit. Anything over the cap isn't saved — you'll get an icon flash and a notification with a one-click Open Preferences button to raise it. Default cap is 50 MB.

If you want clips to follow you, flip on Sync with my other devices in Preferences — text and image clips will travel through your private iCloud database to any other Mac you sign in with clip and cue. File clips and grouped stacks stay local.

Get clip and cue

Free for personal use, and about as light as a menu bar app gets.

Free for personal use · CC BY-NC 4.0 · macOS 13+

License & what you're agreeing to

You're free to use, share and adapt it for non-commercial purposes.
You must give appropriate attribution to the author.
Commercial use is not permitted without permission.
The software is provided “as is”, with no warranty, and the author is not liable for any damages or data loss.
Your clipboard history is stored unencrypted on your own Mac and is never transmitted anywhere — you're responsible for clearing sensitive items.
The app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens normally — no security warning.

Read the full license text ↗

I agree to the CC BY-NC 4.0 license terms above, and understand the app is provided as-is.

Download for macOS

v0.2.6 · released June 24, 2026

Tick the box to enable the download.