Let’s begin with the fundamentals, simply to ensure we’re on the identical web page. The clipboard is a short lived buffer that shops no matter you chop or copy. This information stays on the clipboard till you exchange it by slicing or copying one thing new.
Clearing the clipboard can unencumber reminiscence and assist defend any delicate info it’d include — particularly essential in the event you share your Mac with others.
That is clear, proper? Now let’s dive into learn how to delete clipboard content material in your Apple gadgets.
All of the methods to empty the clipboard
I’ll present detailed directions beneath, however for a few of you, this fast overview could be all you want.
| Do this | Your information |
| Substitute сontent | Kind a couple of areas in any textual content subject and replica them. |
| Terminal command | In Terminal, kind pbcopy < /dev/null, and press Enter. |
| Restart Mac | Go to Apple menu > Restart. |
| One Swap | Open One Swap from the menu bar and toggle “Empty Pasteboard.” |
| Paste | Save limitless clipboard historical past for reuse and delete gadgets as wanted through app settings. |
| Unclutter | Save a number of copied gadgets and preserve historical past even after restart. Delete through app settings as wanted. |
| Yoink | Momentary storage for drag-and-drop gadgets, plus a mini clipboard historical past. Clear by app settings as wanted. |
examine clipboard information
Earlier than I clarify learn how to clear the clipboard, let me present you learn how to see copy and paste historical past on a Mac to make sure you want to take action.
Right here’s the way you see your Mac copy historical past:
- Click on on any empty space of your Mac desktop.
- Click on Finder within the higher left nook of the display screen.
- Click on Edit > Present Clipboard.
Now you see the contents of your Mac clipboard.
clear copy and paste on Mac
I will present you many methods to clear the Mac clipboard so you possibly can select the strategy that works greatest for you.
#1. Clear Mac clipboard by changing the merchandise
One of many best methods to do away with delicate or too “heavy” information in your clipboard is by changing the present clipboard information with small textual information.
You too can open any textual content file in your Mac and choose the area between two phrases. Then press Command + C to repeat this area. Now you possibly can go and examine the content material of your clipboard as described above. It’ll be empty.
#2. Delete clipboard content material utilizing Terminal instructions
One other approach to fully clear clipboard contents is utilizing the pbcopy command in a Mac Terminal.
Right here’s learn how to do away with clipboard information utilizing Terminal:
- Open Terminal (click on Go> Utilities > Terminal. Or kind in “Terminal” within the Highlight search).
- Kind the next command pbcopy < /dev/null within the Terminal.
- Press Enter.
This can empty the clipboard.
Alternatively, you possibly can restart your Mac by going to the Apple menu within the higher left nook and clicking Restart. This can delete clipboard content material fully.
#3. Create a shortcut to empty the clipboard historical past
Typically, I exploit the One Swap app to clear my clipboard. Check out the screenshot: I simply toggle the change subsequent to “Empty Pasteboard,” and every little thing is cleared.
You too can create a shortcut for this in One Swap. Go to One Swap > Preferences > Shortcuts, discover Empty Pasteboard, and set the shortcut you need to use (mine is Command + Shift + E). Notice that solely your Mac’s built-in clipboard will probably be cleared. The copy historical past in clipboard managers (I will inform you about them later) stays intact.
handle clipboard information manually
For a lot of of you, the built-in strategies for working with the clipboard that I’ve described, could be sufficient. However personally, I discover them missing. As a author, I am consistently copying textual content, hyperlinks, photographs, snippets of HTML code, and extra for my articles — and it drives me nuts when this stuff get overwritten, misplaced, or litter up the notes I am utilizing for momentary storage. So, I discovered an answer.
By no means lose copied gadgets (textual content, photographs): Paste
Paste makes your clipboard limitless. Every little thing you copy — textual content, pictures, hyperlinks, and extra — is saved in Paste and will be accessed anytime in such a kind by urgent Shift + Command + V:
With Paste, your clipboard historical past is saved from a single day to eternally, relying in your setting, and, in fact, you possibly can delete it everytime you need. It is one of many few apps I preserve in my startup, and since I began utilizing it, my stress has severely dropped. You wouldn’t imagine what number of elements of my work Paste has saved from disappearing.
Save clipboard gadgets for future use: Unclutter
I deal with Unclutter like a helpful basket for every little thing I must preserve shut. If I need to add a screenshot or GIF to my article however not till a couple of paragraphs later, I toss it in Unclutter so it doesn’t litter up my doc. The identical goes for paperwork I must learn, apps I plan to put in, movies to look at, and extra.
With Unclutter, you possibly can preserve monitor of every little thing you copy to your Mac’s clipboard, plus copy a number of gadgets after which paste every of them a number of instances. And better of all, even in the event you restart your system, you’ll nonetheless have the historical past of your clips.
Drag and drop gadgets for momentary storage: Yoink
Yoink works equally to Unclutter, however its principal focus is enhancing your drag-and-drop expertise. Consider Yoink as a shelf the place you possibly can quickly retailer any information you drag and drop for later use. It organizes information of the identical kind into tidy stacks, prepared once you want them.
Yoink additionally has a clipboard supervisor that saves 6 to 36 copied gadgets (simply click on the gear icon > Preferences to regulate and the gear icon > Clipboard Historical past to succeed in the copied gadgets).
Clear clipboard historical past on iOS
Though there isn’t any method to take a look at the historical past of your clipboard on an iPhone, you possibly can view the very last thing you copied to it. You are able to do this utilizing the Notes app that comes with each iPhone. To learn to do that, observe the steps beneath:
- In your iPhone, from the Dwelling display screen, swipe down. You’ll see a search window. Kind the phrase “Notes”.
- Faucet to open the Notes app.
- With a brand new observe open, press and maintain your finger in your display screen.
- Within the pop-up window, faucet the phrase “Paste”.
- What seems on the display screen is the very last thing you copied.
You should use this that will help you keep in mind what you’ve copied sooner or later. It’s not precisely the identical as merely viewing your copy historical past, however it’s a approach to preserve a guide file. You’ll simply have to recollect to do it once you need to save a helpful piece of data that you simply would possibly need to use once more at one other time.
Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless higher to make use of the Paste app for the iPhone I’ve talked about earlier than. It means that you can paste a number of gadgets within the order you select and sync them throughout all gadgets.
Identical to along with your Mac, it’s possible you’ll need to do away with your passwords, banking information, and different delicate information in your iPhone clipboard. To do this, observe these steps:
- Open any app that has a textual content entry subject. For instance, Notes.
- Within the search field, kind two areas.
- Then faucet and maintain the areas and select “Copy”.
That’s it! Any information you had in your clipboard will probably be changed with the 2 areas.
clear the clipboard: Ultimate ideas
There are a number of frequent methods of clearing your clipboard, comparable to Terminal instructions, changing your copied merchandise with the area between two phrases, and restarting your Mac. In the event you use clipboard managers that help you copy and paste a number of gadgets directly (Paste, Unclutter, One Swap, and Yoink), clearing your clipboard is even simpler – each apps provide such performance. You too can take a look at Paste for iPhone to maintain, search, and arrange every little thing you copy with ease.
All these apps can be found for seven days free on Setapp, a platform with greater than 250 apps in your Mac, iPhone, and iPad for nearly any job. Give Setapp a attempt to save your self hours of complications sooner or later and prolong the native capabilities of your Apple gadgets.
