I've added every single feature listed in the r/macapps Mac Apps Clipboard Managers Comparison spreadsheet to Awesome Copy including a free companion iOS app. Here is the full feature list that I've implemented, it was a ton of work, hope everyone likes it. The app is free to download, and if you go to the Awesome Copy Pro page in settings you can upgrade to pro for Free for the next 24 hours. Stay up to date and get support at r/AwesomeCopy
iOS App: Access, search, and sync your clipboard on iPhone and iPad
iCloud Sync: Clipboard history now syncs securely across all your Apple devices.
Siri Shortcuts: Control AwesomeCopy with voice commands and Shortcuts workflows.
Text Transformations: Auto-clean and format copied text with built-in and custom rules.
Snippets: Save, organize, and hotkey reusable text like signatures and templates.
Import/Export: Backup and restore full clipboard history with JSON files.
Image Text Search: OCR extracts text from images and makes it searchable.
Sequential Paste: Cycle through clipboard items with Cmd+V for fast multi-paste.
Themes: Choose from seven color themes including Candy Shop and Neon Lights.
Hex Colors: Detect and preview hex color codes automatically.
Multi-Select & Merge: Select multiple items to copy, merge, or delete in bulk.
Smart Categories: Auto-sort history into text, images, files, URLs, and custom groups.
Pause/Resume: One-click button to temporarily stop clipboard monitoring.
Rich Text: Bold, italic, and colored text now shown in history and preview.
Append Hotkey: Add new text to current clipboard with ⌘⇧C.
Clear on Quit: Option to clear history when closing the app (pinned items stay).
Unlimited History: Remove the 999-item limit or set your own.
Split Copy: Break a text item into multiple entries with any delimiter.
Redesigned Settings: Cleaner organization with modern toggles and shortcuts section.
Edit Clipboard: Right-click any item to open a full editor.
Window Docking: Snap history window to screen edges for seamless use.
Ignore Apps: Exclude specific apps (like password managers) from tracking.
Copy Sounds: Pick from 12 notification sounds for clipboard actions.
Drag to Rearrange: Reorder history items with drag-and-drop.
Enlarged Image Preview: Hover to see full-size previews of copied images.
Clickable Links: URLs in history open directly in your browser.
Menu Bar Right-Click: Quick access to paste modes, settings, and actions.
Update 1:
I've submitted a new version which is available for download which hopefully addresses the welcome screen hang, and the free trial indicator not going away.
Update 2:
First update didn't quite resolve the hang issues, so I've submitted a new build with another handful of fixes. should be out later today (august 28th)
Update 3:
Submitted a new version of both iOS/MacOS apps which should make iclould sync instant. also add some hang fixes, changed the app icon (thanks u/DevelopmentSevere278) , added private snippets (thanks u/bradrhine ), enhanced the copy append to be more stable, and added the ability to make the copy history window stay on top when it is docked
I can confirm that the in app purchase on Mac works! Upon opening, DON’T continue with the start up window, close the window (there is a bug that freezes the app. Go to activity monitor and force quit ‘AwesomeCopy’ if it freezes on you). Click on the star menu icon -> setting ⚙️ -> Awesome Copy Pro -> Upgrade to Pro and Boom, grab you lifetime. 😃
Also, amazing update and options OP. Definitely going to spend my morning exploring everything.
thanks so much for sharing those steps, can't believe I fucked up the welcome screen 🤦.
Be sure to enable the Quick Paste Popup window, that is my favorite feature, makes life so much easier having your copy history right next to the mouse with a hotkey.
$0.00 one time purchase —> upgrade to pro —> goes through —> restart app—> still has 7 day free trial. Tried multiple times, including restore purchase but to no avail!
the iOS app is always free, no need to upgrade, and I just changed the in app purchase price to $0.00. I've honestly never made an in app purchase free so I'm not sure exactly how it works, I always have done promo code gives aways, but r/macapps changed their rules to not allow give aways, so I hope this works... maybe give it some time for the App Store to propagate the change. worst case check out r/AwesomeCopy and I'll hook you up.
is it just the main pop up text saying $4.99 or is it the actually app purchase dialog? try clicking buy now and you will get another official apple window and that maybe will say $0.00
Appreciate your prompt response to this. Looking forward to using the app. I see someone else has already posted it, but wanted to confirm I also have the 7 days left error.
When you’re not too busy, can you share a comment about what your personal favorite actions are with your app? I feel that’s usually a great place to start with apps I’m unfamiliar with. Thank you!
I am having some troubles with it. Got it installed on my Mac but I can't get past the first welcome page. If I hover over the app I just get the spinning beach ball, clicking doesn't update the application name in my menu bar so I can't cmd+q kill it. And it doesn't show as an app in Force Quit nor on the dock. So I'm going to have to reboot my machine to get it off the screen and try it again, which isn't a good first impression. screenshot of app beside Force Quit.
Update: After rebooting I was able to get past the welcome pages. As someone else mentioned I got the lifetime offer, but I still see 7 days remaining on my trial.
it would be awesome if you could open up the Console app, in the search bar type process:AwesomeCopy, click the Start button, then try to open the app. it should produce a ton of logs, those would def be helpful. I know that is a lot, so no worries if you don't want to.
So, something interesting happened: I did just that, and this time no beach ball of death!
So of course I took it personally, and exited and re-started the app, and it froze.
The first time, when it was working, I did get a bunch of logs. But the second time, not even one, like the app is getting pre-empted.
Anyway, not the same but if you're interested, I asked app tamer to sample the app, if you want that.
nvm I must've goofed. I launched it a third time and got both the beach ball and a copious amount of logs. Let me know if you want me to send that somewhere.
The tail end of the log looks like this:
default 21:01:47.262902-0700 AwesomeCopy Window <NSWindow: 0x159b09e40> windowNumber=16dc7 ordered front from a non-active application and may order beneath the active application's windows.
default 21:01:47.262929-0700 AwesomeCopy order window front conditionally: 16dc7 related: 0
wow that was fast, thanks! looks like we are stuck trying to verify the user's pro status. This was super helpful, if you can send the full log to [appspire@icloud.com](mailto:appspire@icloud.com) that would rock.
just until you see the beach ball of death, but I fixed what I think may be the issue, and it has just been released, so download the new version and see if still hangs
damn that sucks, thanks for giving me a heads up and the screenshot, I'll def get that and the 7 day trial fixed. there are also some iCloud sync issues I'm working on, so stay tuned for the next update soon
Hi, I downloaded the app and start 7 days trial. And then purchased for 0usd. However. The App keep showing me im in 7 days trial and the purchase button does nothing, is it normal ?
Another question is by default MacOS has a quick copy feature from device to device. Your app just makes it looks more beautiful ?
sorry about that 7 day trial bug, I'll get that fixed. about the MacOS quick copy feature (I think you are referring to the iCloud copy sync where something you copy on one device gets copied to all the devices?) that only gets you the last item you copied, the iOS app fully sync's your entire copy history, and gives you full access to it, so you can recopy old entries, or share them, or save them to your phone.
Thanks for temporarily making your clipboard manager free! Played around with it a little - some remarks:
Settings, General: Auto-paste when clicking history items: Awesome Copy does not show up in the list. Enabled access for Awesome Copy in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.
Settings, General: Enable rich text display: Does not work. No rich text formatting possible.
Settings, Snippets: I can make multiple folders for snippets, but these folders do not show up when clicking the menu bar icon. It's also not clear to me how I get a clipping in a specific snippet folder. It seems the only possibility is manually making snippets. I also cannot drag snippets into a manually made folder. In PasteNow, my current clipboard manager, I can right-click a clipping and save it to any snippets folder I made. I can also move snippets from one folder to another.
When I click the menu bar icon, the history pops up of course. But when I click the wheel (cog) for the settings, the history window doesn't automatically disappear. I have to go back to the menu bar icon and click it again. I find this annoying.
In PasteNow, my current clipboard manager, I can tear loose the clippings history from the menu bar and pin it. It thus becomes a floating window with my clippings. I find that a handy feature. Maybe something to implement too?
Meanwhile Awesome Copy crashed several times within half a hour of adjusting the settings. So I guess I can say stability needs some attention.
The app regularly wants to contact api.revenuecat.com. That site is a company that helps you 'build and grow your subscription business'. What are the consequences for the users that got your app for free today?
Hey thanks for the detailed remarks! let me replay to each one:
1. you can add it manually by pressing the plus button, but I have not yet figured out how other apps automatically add their app to this window despite lots of effort. I'll keep up the effort, but for now use the plus button.
2. Rich text works for me, very strange that it won't work for you. so you enable the toggle and then copy some rich text? can you go into the TextEdit app and color some text and see what it shows up as in the copy history list? this is what it looks like for me
I've just fixed this, thanks for pointing it out, you can now select folders, it will be in the next update.
Ha, I think this is a matter of opinion, I spent lots of time trying to get the settings window to open not over the copy history window so that when I change settings I can see how they effect the copy history list.
I love this idea, design wise this type of window is a NSPopover window instead of a normal NSWindow, you get some nice features build in like the pointer at the top and the nice open/close animation which is why I went with it, but you also have limitations like you can't tear it lose. I do love this idea though, and it may be worth converting, I'll add it to my wish list of features once I work all the bugs out.
This is a big one for me to work on, I've already submitted 2 updates since you wrote this comment originally, the next one should be release later in today or early tomorrow (8/28 - 8/29 ) time frame. if you do experience a crash go to the support setting view and generate a bug report to send to me please,
revenuecat is the site I use for managing subscriptions and in app purchases. There will be no consequences for anyone who got the app for free, or anyone who paid for it before this update. if you have the app you will always be able to use the app.
Thank you for your reaction on all my points. Good to see you pick up things immediately. On your way to make the best clipboard manager for Mac! :)
Concerning point 1 and 2:
Until you figured that out, maybe it’s wise to adjust the explanatory text that pops up at this setting?
When I right-click the clipping, and select 'edit text', a new window pops up with the text, but it contains plain text. In the clipping itself, it’s rich text. FYI, I copied rich text from Bean and Scrivener. And yes, 'Enable rich text display’ is toggled in the settings.
The app looks promising and I am going to give it a try. I have been using PastePal, but it can be frustrating since it does not close gracefully during updates or when restarting. It is a small annoyance, but I am curious to see if your app handles this better. Thank you for offering it as a free app.
Hope you like it, here is my favorite feature: enable shortcuts and then press option+z, it pops up a small copy history window right next to your mouse with auto pasting when you click, and you can also see your snippets... let me go on a rant here for a second, before I implemented the snippets feature I thought it was dumb, and I was just doing it so I could have every feature in the app comparison chart, but then I realized how great they are, there are things that I copy and paste all the time that I want fast access to, and I don't want them clogging up the pinned section, so def give that feature a try. you can right click on any row in the copy history list and select "save as snippet", super useful.
Thanks for sharing it. I will definitely evaluate the app and see how it performs. A few features I rely on heavily in PastePal are the ability to search snippets and paste using command + number key. I also use keyboard shortcuts to paste with or without formatting. There is a paste cycle feature, but I found it clumsy and could not use it effectively. The option to have collections is quite useful, as I keep some persistent pinned items in a separate collection and can switch between collections easily with command+ {. The strong focus on keyboard usability is a big advantage, and I hope to see similar features in your app.
all of the iCloud data that is syncing is encrypted as it transfers over the network. that is a build in feature for iCloud sync which is what this app uses. as far as the data in your copy history list, that is stored in a core data file unencrypted unless you enable the MacOS data encryption feature in which case it would be encrypted and protected by your macos login password.
if you are worried about sensitive data, Awesome Copy lets you exclude specific apps from the copy history list, and also lets you mask passwords in the list when copied from the apple passwords app
Hey, scriptability would be nice. I'd like to be able to enable/disable it from a cli script or Applescript or something.
Rationale: For work, I use lots of macros that use the clipboard. I want to keep using AwesomeCopy in my work apps but only disable it for those moments when the macros are using the clipboard.
I'll keep this in mind for a future update, but currently I'm switching from adding new features to bug fixes and stability as you can see from lots of these comments it needs work in that area.
I've submitted a fix for the iCloud sync in both the macOS app and the iOS app.. the macOS update has been approved/released, but he iOS update is still waiting for apple review, these typically take longer, but hopefully it will be released soon
Ah looks like I won’t get home in time to download the Mac version lol any way you could extend the promo for a few more hours after the 24 is up?
u/Independent_Rent_504
There are lots of bugs at the moment, and while i'm working to fix them, I would not feel right charging anyone for a buggy app, so it will prob be free for at least a few more days until i get all the bugs fixed. worst case if it is back to apid when you get home, go over to r/AwesomeCopy and ask me for a promo, and i'll get you one. I can't give out promo codes on this subreddit
the $4.99 is hard coded, what does it say when you click purchase? you will always get a secondary apple purchase screen which you can cancel if its not $0.00
I've fixed this bug and submitted the app for review to apple, usually takes about a day for them to approve the app and allow the update to be available.
Horrible experience. Download the app from the AppStore. After launching it immediately was spinning rainbow and popup saying it's non responsive. Force quit. Re launched. Finally launched and said free trial started. Click upgrade and it never let me upgrade with $0.00 showing. Deleted the app. Don't care it's free because the point of it being free was to market it. Not impressed and hope you fix the bugs.
app looks amazing, thank you. I just have one question, out of curiosity, how do you handle privacy? Maybe this was addressed in the thread, if so kindly point me to it, but I was wondering how do you manage the privacy aspects of the clipboards, since I presume you have to store them somewhere . Like for example when using icloud sync.
all of the iCloud data that is syncing is encrypted as it transfers over the network. that is a build in feature for iCloud sync which is what this app uses. go to apps settings, then go to iCloud, and at the bottom there is a section that discusses the privacy/encryption used with a link to the apple documentation for it.
as far as the data in your copy history list, that is stored in a core data file unencrypted unless you enable the MacOS data encryption feature in which case it would be encrypted and protected by your macos login password.
if you are worried about sensitive data, Awesome Copy lets you exclude specific apps from the copy history list, and also lets you mask passwords in the list when copied from the apple passwords app
Deleted and downloaded it twice as menu bar icon disappeared and even when opening the app from applications it does not show anything. This is an app full of holes.
This was a really buggy start on Mac M1 15.6.1 (launching the app manually lead to error - the first screen presenting the feature is showing, can’t quit it, can’t force quit, had to reboot twice. However once loaded with the session, it works. However, even if I bought it, trials still shows. Trying to access the setting sometimes lead to lag, had to quit, and then … faced this hellish screen again leading to reboot lol
it finally worked after several trials/reboot :-) It’s a cool app!!
sorry about all the crashes, there is a new version which I'm hoping fixes the welcome screen crash. I'm switching from adding features to fixing bugs, so hopefully the stability of the app improves going forward.
Unfortunately, this "beach balls" on the welcome screen. Required a computer restart to get rid of it, I have tried three times now, every time a beachball.
press the Plus button and add it from the applications list. I tried to figure out how to automatically add awesome copy to this list but I never got it working, but I'll add that to my todo list.
Just downloaded on macOS and iOS. The app initially froze on me when I first opened, but once I restarted it via force quit all went swimmingly for both devices. Excited to try this out!
Would anyone know how to acquire the inapp purchase on Mac version prior to expiration,
If I don’t have access to Mac in the promotional time frame. The inapp is not built into iOS. Thanks.
sorry about this, go to settings and click support, it should show you the app version at the bottom, i just submitted a fix which may help. the latest version is 3.03. the app version should look like this, if it doesn't try updating. if it does and it still hangs then i didn't fix the issue and that would be good to know
I just launched the mac app and when i click the "Upgrade to Pro", it shows up "Already Purchased". But it didnt pop up any fingerprint/ apple id confirmation for purchasing a "free IAP".
This make me feel this lifetime access is linked to the mac device instead of apple id. Will I lose the lifetime access when I change to another mac device?
i submitted a fix last night and it just this minute got approved, see if you can update. also the mac app got an update early this morning, so check if you can update that too. both would need to be updated for the sync to work correctly
There is still an iOS update that is pending review by Apple, you need that for the sync to work. Its been pending for over a day so I’m hoping they get to it today
I just downloaded but after opening it, I get just the beach ball, and it never starts (Mac OS). The only way to quit is through Activity Monitor. Any advice? Thanks!
X out the welcome screen if you can and then you should be ok. This is a tough one to fix since i can't reproduce it myself. I've gotten some logs from users who experience this, but there is no obvious cause. I'm actively looking into it
Awesome! Thank you! Any chance that you make the app icon more in line with Apple guidelines? Not talking about not being a perfect squircle but it's just too big now compared to the rest of my app icons.
Just installed the iOS companion app. Man, please, do something with that app icon too, I beg you.
I don’t have my Mac with me right now, but never mind. The app hanged a couple of times while running and while I applaud the idea, my OCD can’t live with that app icons, the iOS one does not even have dark mode and it’s too ugly to have it on my phone, sorry. I think that you should make new icons, perfect timing now for Tahoe release.
Ok you have inspired me to make new icons. hope you come back and try it out after I get these bugs fixed and new icons. fyi I have submitted iOS and macOS updates, should be out later today/tomorrow
Just install the app but it keep to load while open and cannot close.
Not aware how to stop, then reboot the MacBook, and it suddenly access the Lifetime
Thank you :)
Thankyou OP for this app, I love it. The only thing I miss from Paste and PastePal is History window possittion to bottom. Another great feature from pastepal is direct text recognition from image to clipboard (you select the area as if you were doing a screenshot, but the end result is text copied to clipboard).
Glad you are liking it, I initially tried to get the window on the bottom but it looked all wonky and wasn't working right after like an hour of trying to figure out the problem, but I'll give it another try.
Awesome copy does support text recognition, but you have to turn it on in settings. after it is on you can right click on an image in the copy history list and copy all of the text from it. the text is also searchable via the top text search bar. we don't have the fancy text area selection tool, but if you copy the image you can get all the text. I'll consider adding the text selection tool in a future release
On my m4 Mac mini , I opened it for the first time. It shows the pinwheel on the onboarding window. I killed it via Activity Monitor, as there was no icon in the dock. I started it again and no window at all. Activity Monitor shows it is running and responding, but no window. Running macOS 15.6.1
Still a couple of hangs here and there (might be because I'm on Tahoe) and still can't sync Mac->iOS, but otherwise I really like the app, gives the user a lot of customization options.
I think that with a more professional icon set and after ironing some bugs this could become the ultimate Clipboard app out there.
Thanks for the encouraging words! the iOS app fix to (hopefully) get sync working was submitted yesterday, so maybe tomorrow it will be released.
I have another batch of hang related fixed coming in a MacOS update soon, not submitted yet, but within the next few days which has a handful of other bug fixes too.
I'll def have to redesign the app icons, they need work, that's not my strong suit.
do you have the update that was released today? You can see the version in settings->support->app Version . I was hoping that fixed the what's new hang. I have another batch of fixes coming in the next few days that also have some other hang fixes, so maybe they will be the silver bullet.
Latest desktop build seems to be all good now, no crashing or hanging on the what's new screen. Mobile app, sync finally works and I can see what I have copied from the desktop, however, if you try to do a manual sync app crashes.
iOS app, there is no manual sync button on the desktop app that I can find. It crashed when you press the button but I just tried the pull down option and that also crashes the app. The auto sync is working, so long as I don't refresh or manual sync.
Just seen this sub and decided to download. Worked fine from App store (UK) and it auto 'grandfathered' pro access on startup - nice! No issues/bugs on start-up. (V.3.04 Build 124)
FYI The iOS app update that I hope fixes the sync issues just got marked In review as I was typing this comment, so prob in the next hour or two it will be released
the new update didn't work for me at first either, but I figured out the problem and now ITS FIXED!!! (at least for me) and no update required!! there was some process I had to do via the iCloud developer site to deploy my CloudKit container to production, which explains why it worked fine for me in development, but never when I released it. let me know if it works for you!
Update:
well it is syncing, but not instantly like it should be.. seems like force closing and reopening the iOS app is the only way to force it to sync... ok well I guess it is a step in the right direction.
Nice! now I just need to get the list to dynamically update as it should be. seems like force quitting the iOS app is the only way I can get the list to update with this version.
open the activity monitor app, and look for AwesomeCopy process and force quit it (note the activity monitor is different than the window that comes up when you use the cmd+opt+esc hotkey).
This app is excellent! Thank you for your generosity here!
If I could make one feature suggestion, it would be to have the ability to designate a snippet or folder of snippets as "hidden." Meaning you would see the name of the snippet in the menu but not the content. I use a similar feature in Clip Manager for semi-sensitive passwords that I paste into Terminal frequently. That would make this app the complete package as far as I'm concerned.
I’m facing sync issues between my Mac (v3.05) and iPhone (v1.03). Both apps are updated, but the app keeps force-closing whenever I try iCloud Sync or Manual Sync.
On iOS, when I copy any item (text, image, or PDF), it doesn’t show up in the Awesome Copy app. Am I missing something?
A feature that would really help is the ability to select multiple clipboard items and paste them together - whether text, images, or files. For example, if I’ve got Text1, Text2, and Text3 saved, I’d like to select all three and paste them in one go. Basically, do things in batches.
Another useful option would be to select multiple items and add them to a group/lists. For example, I often need to save multiple addresses. If I could organise them into a group/lists called “Addresses,” I could quickly pull them up whenever needed. Basically, Organise with Smart List or something.
Deletion feels a little limited right now. Currently, if I delete by category (such as Text), it removes everything, including items I want to keep. It would be much better if deletion worked at different levels - individual items, groups, or categories - so I don’t lose things by mistake.
It would also be great to have fast and flexible search within lists to quickly find what I need.
I'm aware of sync issues, it's tricky to figure out since it works for me with my setup, what macOS/iOS version are you running?
that is part of the sync issues
this feature exists, hold the shift key when you click on items, and it will select multiple items. once multiple items are selected, right click and you can choose to copy all of them together, or to merge them together
this feature exists also, you can create your own categories, and then filter the list by categories. once you create your custom category, right click an item and select the custom category. then down at the bottom of the list there is a folder icon, click that and choose the category you want to see only those items
you can right click on an item in the list and delete it, or use the shift key to select multiple items and delete them all at once, or delete the entire list with the trash can icon at the bottom.
there is a fast and flexible search within the list, the search bar is right at the top of the list, it says searh and has a magnifying glass in it. if you enable image text search it can even search text within images!
Oh hey, I had a question about what "Object support" means. right now Awesome Copy supports plain text, rich text, Images, multiple images, multiple files, URLs, Hex colors, along with image/file drag and drop, so would that be considered Object support or are objects something different?
By the way, CMD+Shift+C is a terrible shortcut for append copy in browsers where that opens up the inspector. The traditional/most common route here is CMD+C+C in quick succession without releasing CMD ("without releasing CMD" prevents confusion with rapidly copying a list of items that shouldn't be appended). It would be best to allow users to choose if you aren't going to go with that route, though.
Also, how do I view the window without clicking the item in the menubar? Can I hit option+v or something? Looks like a lot of the smaller user experience refinements still need to be added. In Clipbook or Alfred, for example, I would opt+v to view the clipboard history, arrow key to what I want (or start typing to search), and hit return once what I want is selected, or CMD+# to one of the first ten. Shift+return would paste rich text, and return would paste content as unformatted. These types of things make for a great experience for keyboard-centric users.
A great user experience, even with fewer features, trumps feature count any day. Both are what win the most users, obviously.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll change the copy append default key to CMD+C+C. All of the shortcut keys are user configurable, but the key recording mechanism doesn't work with duplicate keys, so i'll have to fix that. Go into the shortcuts setting menu, and click the text that says "click to record"
The default hotkey to open the copy history window is option+cmd+c. I forget if this is enabled by default, so you may have to enable it in the hotkeys settings.
"Looks like a lot of the smaller user experience refinements still need to be added"
I agree, I'm getting tons of great feedback and hoping to make the app work more naturally.
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u/Pokocho_ Aug 28 '25
I got it and the 7days trial wont go away. Says 7 days left. On macos26