Clipboard history for Mac
Everything you copied.
One ⌥V away.
EFClip lives in the menu bar and remembers what you copy: text, links and images. Press ⌥V, type two letters, hit Return. Pin what you need again, file it in a category, and find the same history in the EFKey keyboard on your iPhone.
Free. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon. Version 1.0.
- Office addressWork⌘1
- https://efclip.app/help/#offlineDocs⌘2
- Day off on Friday, back Monday⌘3
- Kickoff slide · 1280 × 720⌘4
Why I built it
I built EFKey because the iPhone keyboard had no real clipboard. Then the history stopped at the edge of the phone.
Half of what I copy starts on the Mac: an address, a tracking number, a link I need in a message an hour later. I wanted that history next to my cursor on the Mac and in my keyboard on the iPhone, without an account and without a server in the middle.
So EFClip is the other half: the same history on the Mac, moved between your devices by your own iCloud.
How it works
Copy. ⌥V. Return.
There is nothing to learn. You keep copying the way you always have, and EFClip keeps the list.
Copy as usual
⌘C anywhere. EFClip checks the clipboard twice a second and saves each new text, link or image. The same text copied twice is one item that moves back to the top.
Press ⌥V
The history opens at your cursor and the search field is ready. It doesn't take focus from the app you're typing in, and it closes when you click away.
Pick it
Return copies the item, ⌘V pastes it. Turn on Paste right away and EFClip presses ⌘V for you. Hold ⌥ when you pick to do the opposite, just once.
Features
Small window. Long memory.
200 items by default, up to 500. The things you pin stay until you remove them.
Search that forgives
Type a few letters of the text or of its name. Case and accents don't matter, and the match is in bold.
kavicka → Kávička na rohu
Pin what comes back
⌥P pins an item. Pinned items sit at the top, skip the size limit and never expire.
Categories
⌘K files an item under Work, Addresses or whatever you make. Each category becomes a filter, on the Mac and in the iPhone keyboard.
Names and edits
⌘N gives an item a short name, so a long IBAN shows up as Rent account. ⌘E fixes a typo in the text itself.
Images too
Screenshots and copied pictures, PNG, JPEG, HEIC or TIFF. The 15 newest stay, scaled to 1280 px so they don't fill your disk.
Preview before you paste
⌃Space opens the whole text or a bigger image beside the window, with its length and when you copied it. It can also open on its own after you rest on a row.
Links and colors
Links get their own filter. A hex color like #007C8C shows a swatch next to it.
Keys for everything
⌘1 to ⌘9 pick a row directly. Tab switches filters. You can use the whole window without touching the mouse.
Passwords stay out
Anything a password manager marks as concealed is never saved. 1Password, Bitwarden, Passwords and Keychain Access are ignored from the start.
Filters
Your order. Every device.
The chips above the list are filters. Drag them into the order you use, All and Pinned included. Tab jumps to the next one.
- AllEverything you copied that isn't pinned. The running history.
- PinnedEverything you kept, categories included.
- Your categoriesOne chip per category. The + chip at the end makes a new one.
- Text, Links, ImagesThe same history, split by type.
Shortcuts
Hands stay on the keyboard.
⌥V is only the default. Pick any combination with ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃ in Settings.
iPhone sync
Same history. In your keyboard.
EFClip shares its history with EFKey, my keyboard for iPhone. Pin an address on the Mac and it's in the keyboard's clipboard the next time you open it. There's no account to make: your own iCloud carries it.
EFClip on your MacSends each change within a couple of seconds.
EFKey on your iPhonePicks up the changes when you open the clipboard in the keyboard.What comes along
- Text and links
- Images, the 15 newest, sent at up to 1280 px
- Pins, categories and names
- Deletes, and the order of your filters
What stays on each device
- Settings: shortcut, window size, ignore list
- History limits. When the two differ, the smaller one wins, because trimming is shared too.
- How each side fills All and Pinned
How fast
The last thing you copied is on the other device right away through Apple's Universal Clipboard, sync or not. Pins, categories and deletes reach the Mac when you open EFClip, otherwise within 30 seconds. Changes from the Mac land on the iPhone when you open the clipboard in the keyboard.
What you need
- The same Apple ID on both, with iCloud on
- Sync with iPhone on in EFClip › Settings › Sync
- Sync with Mac on in EFKey › Tools › Clipboard
- EFKey Pro and Full Access for the keyboard
EFKey for iPhone
The keyboard on the other end of sync. Free on the App Store; sync with the Mac is part of EFKey Pro, €14.99 once.
Scan with your iPhone
Privacy
Your clipboard has no server.
Copied text is the most private thing on a computer: passwords, addresses, half-written messages. So EFClip keeps it on your Mac, and when you turn sync on, in your own iCloud. There is no account, no analytics and nowhere of mine to send it.
- 0 serversThe history lives on your Mac and in your iCloud, nowhere else.
- End to endText, images, names and categories are encrypted before they leave the Mac.
- Off by defaultSync waits until you turn it on. Until then nothing leaves the Mac.
- Never savedConcealed passwords, apps on your ignore list, text that matches your patterns.
Settings
Six tabs. No surprises.
⌘, in the window. Every option, with its default.
General
- Open at login, off
- Open history, ⌥V
- Show window at the cursor or in the center
- Window width and height, 400 × 540
- Preview after 1.5 s, or only with ⌃Space
- Paste right away, off
- Check for updates automatically, on
Categories
- All filters in one list. Drag to reorder.
- Rename or delete a category. Its items stay pinned.
- New category and Add
Storage
- Save images, on
- Keep up to 50, 100, 200 or 500 items
- Delete after 5 minutes to 30 days, default 30 days
- Clear history when EFClip quits, off
Ignore
- Apps: copies made in these apps are skipped. Add any running app.
- Text matching: regular expressions, like ^\d{16}$ for card numbers
Sync
- Sync with iPhone, off, with the last sync time
- Same filter order on all devices, on
- How it works, step by step
- Delete from iCloud…
About
- Version and Check for Updates…
- Links to efclip.app, efkey.app and feedback
- Open-source licenses
Honest limits
What it doesn't do.
- Apple silicon only. M1 or newer, macOS 14 or later. There is no Intel build.
- Plain text. Formatting, fonts and colors are dropped, and files copied in Finder aren't saved. What you paste is the text.
- One item stays under 100 KB. A longer text, say a whole log file, isn't saved.
- 15 images. Older ones make room, unless they're pinned.
- The iPhone side needs EFKey Pro. EFClip itself is free and works on its own; sync is the part that costs, on the phone.
- English only, for now. The app speaks English. The keyboard on the other end speaks 77 languages.
- Not on the Mac App Store. It's a signed and notarized download from this site, and it updates itself.
Questions
Asked before you asked.
Is EFClip free?
Yes. No trial, no subscription, no account. Syncing with the iPhone needs EFKey Pro in the keyboard, €14.99 once.
Do I need EFKey to use it?
No. EFClip works on its own as a clipboard history for the Mac. If you don't use EFKey, leave Sync with iPhone off: with it on, the history goes to your iCloud even when nothing reads it.
Does it paste for me?
Only if you ask. By default, picking an item puts it on the clipboard and you press ⌘V. Turn on Paste right away and EFClip presses ⌘V for you; for that macOS asks for Accessibility access once.
Why does it need Accessibility access?
Only to press ⌘V for you. Opening the window with ⌥V and saving what you copy need no permission at all. If you never turn on Paste right away, it never asks.
Will it save my passwords?
No. Password managers mark what they copy as concealed, and EFClip never saves that, whatever your settings. 1Password, Bitwarden, Passwords and Keychain Access are also on the ignore list from the start.
How do I stop it for a moment?
⌥-click the menu bar icon to pause saving; it fades until you ⌥-click again. ⌥⇧-click skips only the next copy.
How long does it keep things?
200 items and 30 days by default. Both are in Settings › Storage. Pinned items, items in a category and named items stay until you remove them.
Who can read my synced clipboard?
You. The history sits in the private iCloud database of your Apple ID, and the text, images, names and categories are encrypted end to end. Apple sees when an item changed and whether it's pinned, not what it says.
How fast does it sync?
The last copy is instant through Apple's Universal Clipboard. Pins, categories and deletes reach the Mac when you open EFClip, otherwise within 30 seconds. The iPhone catches up when you open the clipboard in the keyboard.
What if I pin on the Mac and copy the same thing on my iPhone?
The pin stays. Copying again moves the item to the top on both sides; a pin, category or name only changes when you change it.
Why does All look different on the iPhone?
On the Mac, All is the running history and Pinned holds everything you kept. In the keyboard, All shows everything with pinned items on top. The order of the chips is shared; what fills them follows each device.
How do I remove my history from iCloud?
Turn sync off in EFKey first, then use Delete from iCloud… in EFClip › Settings › Sync. The history on your devices stays. If a device still has sync on, it uploads its copy again.
How do updates work?
EFClip checks this site once a day and offers a new version when there is one. Each update is signed, so the app installs only what I published. You can turn the check off in Settings › General.
Does it work with several Macs?
Every device signed in to the same Apple ID with sync on shares one history, so a second Mac with EFClip joins the same list.
Copy something. Then press ⌥V.
Free, signed and notarized. 4 MB.
Found a bug or missing something? Tell me on the tracker. I read every report.