Pastewell

Pastewell is a tiny, local-only clipboard history app for macOS 14 and newer.

It is open-source software released under the MIT License.

Website: tobzzy.github.io/Pastewell

Download

Download the latest universal macOS ZIP from the repository's Releases page. The free community build is ad-hoc signed. After trying to open it once, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to Security, and choose Open Anyway. macOS remembers the exception after you confirm it.

Features

• Text clipboard history stored only on this Mac
• Multi-word search across clip text and source-app names
• Keyboard selection with Up/Down and Return
• Pin, edit, delete, clear, and pause
• Source-app names and icons for newly copied clips
• A paste queue for filling several fields in sequence
• Opens with Command-Shift-V
• Pastes the selected entry into the most recently active app
• Movable, resizable, and minimizable history window
• Stays visible between pastes and hides with Escape
• Ink Violet visual theme with six alternative accent presets
• Settings for paste behavior, window behavior, history size, appearance, startup, and privacy
• Keeps the 100 most recent unpinned entries
• Ignores common concealed and transient clipboard types
• No network calls, accounts, analytics, or third-party dependencies

Build and run

1. Install Xcode from Apple.

2. If required, review and accept its license in Terminal:

   sudo xcodebuild -license

3. Build the app. Pastewell's script invokes the Swift compiler directly, so it also works around installations where xcodebuild cannot load its optional device-support frameworks:

   ./build-app.sh

4. Launch it:

   open Pastewell.app

Pastewell appears as a clipboard icon in the menu bar. Click it or press Command-Shift-V, then choose an entry to paste it immediately. On the first automatic paste, macOS asks you to allow Pastewell under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.

Open Pastewell settings with the gear button or Command-comma.

Use the queue button beside any clip to add it to the paste queue. Paste Next pastes clips in the order you added them; Command-Return does the same while Pastewell is open.

Clipboard history is stored at:

~/Library/Application Support/Pastewell/history.json

Right-click the menu-bar icon to pause, clear history, or quit.

Create a downloadable build

./package-release.sh

The universal ZIP for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs is written to dist/. Instructions for GitHub Releases and optional Apple notarization are in DISTRIBUTING.md.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md and report security issues according to SECURITY.md.

The product website lives in website/. See its README for local preview and future App Store, review, and sponsorship integration notes.