First Steps

First steps

The welcome tour

The first time you open CopyPaste it shows a short welcome. You can skip it, but it takes a minute:

1. The shortcut. It asks you to try it right there: press Ctrl+Alt+V (Windows) or ⌃⌥V (Mac) and the panel opens. If another program already uses that combination, it offers others that are free on your computer.
2. Where to find it. CopyPaste has no main window: it lives next to the clock.
3. How to use it. Type to search, Enter to paste, and not much more.

If you're coming from CopyPaste 2, it also offers to bring your old history over. You can say Not now and do it later from Settings › Backup. More in Backup and migration.

Want to see it again? Settings › About › Show the welcome again.

On a Mac: permission to paste

To paste into the app you were in, macOS needs you to allow CopyPaste under Accessibility. The welcome tour walks you through it:

1. System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility opens.
2. Turn on CopyPaste in the list.
3. Come back to CopyPaste: it carries on by itself.

CopyPaste does not read what you type: the permission only lets it send ⌘V when you choose something.

Without the permission, everything works the same except the last step: what you choose stays on the clipboard and you paste it yourself with ⌘V.

Tip

If CopyPaste was already turned on under Accessibility and still won't paste, remove it from the list with − and add it again. It sometimes happens after an update.

macOS may also ask whether CopyPaste can read the clipboard. Answer Allow: otherwise it can't keep what you copy.

Where it lives

	Windows	macOS
Where	The system tray, bottom right, next to the clock	The menu bar, top right
Click	Opens the panel	Opens the panel
Right click	Menu: Show the panel, Settings…, Restart the panel, Quit CopyPaste	The same menu

On Windows, if you don't see the icon, check the hidden-icons arrow and drag it onto the taskbar to keep it in view. On a Mac with many icons it can hide behind the notch.

Your first paste

1. Copy three or four different things: some text, a link, a screenshot.
2. Go anywhere you can type: a chat, an email, a document.
3. Press Ctrl+Alt+V (or ⌃⌥V). The panel appears with the latest item on top.
4. Move with the arrow keys, or type to search.
5. Press Enter. Your choice is pasted where you were and the panel closes.

Wanted just the text, without bold or colours? Use Shift+Enter (⇧⏎). Wanted another form, like the colour in rgb() or the JSON formatted? Use Alt+Enter (⌥⏎). That's Paste as….

To close the panel without pasting: Esc, or click outside it.

Start with your computer

Settings › General › Start at login. CopyPaste opens when you log in and waits in the tray or menu bar. No administrator rights needed.

• On Windows, if the switch doesn't respond, check Settings › Apps › Startup: Windows has the last word there.
• On macOS, you may need to allow it in System Settings › General › Login Items.

Next

• The panel: everything you can do with what you copied.
• Keyboard shortcuts: the full list.
• Settings: how long to keep things, the theme, the text size.