Native menu bar app for macOS

The clipboard manager
that understands code.

Syntax highlighting for copied code. Text pulled out of screenshots. JSON, Base64 and JWT decoded without a website. ⌘⇧V from any app — everything stays on your Mac.

Download for macOS See how it works
  • OCR built in — on by default
  • Paste queue with a live overlay
  • Syntax highlighting & dev tools
  • Everything local

macOS 14+ · Universal · Menu bar · Free early access · 3.7 MB download

First launch — see the FAQ

<100ms panel open
⌘⇧Vglobal shortcut
0cloud accounts
100%offline

Built for real clipboard work

Native Swift app. No Electron. Lives quietly in the menu bar.

Code with syntax colors

Copied code is detected and highlighted — Swift, Python, SQL and 180 more languages.

On by default

Text out of screenshots

Vision OCR reads every screenshot. The text becomes searchable and pasteable.

Never leaves your Mac

JSON, Base64 & JWT

Format JSON, decode Base64, URLs and JWTs — expiry too. Computed locally, never sent to a website.

Nobody else has this

A paste queue you can watch

Queue items with ⌘⇧C. A floating window shows what's now and next; paste in order with ⌘V.

Smart tags & colors

Emails, phones, dates and HEX colors get tagged — with one-click actions like Copy as RGB.

Filters that sort for you

Your own rules — extension, app, content, language — and history sorts itself into tabs.

Instant history

⌘⇧V opens a floating panel from any app. Search, filter, paste with Return.

Snippets, transforms & Markdown

Saved phrases, case and JSON transforms, plain-text paste, and a rendered Markdown preview.

Private by design

API keys and secrets stay out of history, password managers are ignored, nothing leaves your Mac. No account, no cloud, no telemetry.

Three steps. Zero friction.

Copy as usual. Pastenator does the rest.

  1. 1

    Copy anything

    Text, rich content, images, files, links — captured automatically in the background.

  2. 2

    Press ⌘⇧V

    The history panel appears. Search, filter by type, or pick with arrow keys.

  3. 3

    Paste & keep working

    Return pastes into the app you were using. Esc closes the panel. Hands stay on the keyboard.

Small app, honest claims

Nothing below needs marketing math.

3.7 MB download

The DMG is small. Universal binary: Apple Silicon and Intel in one file.

Native Swift

SwiftUI + AppKit where it matters. Fast launch, low memory, no web runtime.

Local only

History stays on your Mac. No account, no sync tax, no analytics SDK.

Pairs with emde

From the same author as emde — Markdown preview in the panel, open in emde when you need the full editor.

Get Pastenator

Version 1.0 · Universal DMG (arm64 + x86_64). Drag to Applications and go.

Download Pastenator.dmg

macOS 14+ · 3.7 MB · Free early access

Accessibility permission required for auto-paste into other apps.

First launch — see the FAQ

FAQ

Is Pastenator free?

Yes during early access. A simple one-time license may come later. No subscriptions planned.

What are the requirements?

macOS 14 Sonoma or later. The downloadable Pastenator.dmg is a universal app (Apple Silicon and Intel). Accessibility access is needed for automatic paste into other apps.

How do I install it the first time?
  1. Open the downloaded Pastenator.dmg
  2. Drag Pastenator to Applications
  3. Right-click Pastenator → Open → confirm (once)
  4. If macOS 15+ still blocks it: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway

Early builds may not be notarized yet, so Gatekeeper can warn once. That is expected until Apple Developer Program signing is in place.

Does it store passwords?

No. Concealed pasteboard types from 1Password, Bitwarden and similar tools are ignored by default. You can also block whole apps.

Languages?

English and Polish, with live switch in Settings. Follows system language by default.

macOS 26 already has clipboard history. Why this?

Spotlight shows you a list. Pastenator recognises code and colours it, pulls text out of screenshots so you can search it, and sorts history into tabs by rules you define. If a plain list is enough for you, the system feature is fine — it is off by default, open Spotlight and press Tab to enable it.

Why is it not in the Mac App Store?

Because App Review does not allow sandboxed apps to simulate ⌘V, which is exactly how automatic paste works. Shipping there would mean removing the feature the app exists for. Instead, the app is signed and notarised by Apple, so it opens with a single click.

Related to emde?

Same author. emde is a native Markdown editor; Pastenator is clipboard history. They work well together but stay optional.