Open-source Clipboard Manager: Hi, CopyQ!

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CopyQ?

Advantages

• Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS)
• Free and open-source
• Powerful clipboard history and search
• Supports images, text, and more
• Scripting and automation support
• Customizable shortcuts and commands
• Tabs for organizing clipboard items
• Lightweight and easy to use

Platforms supported

Case for CopyQ

If you copy and paste text, images, or files frequently, you will benefit from a clipboard manager.

Common Solutions

The built-in clipboard on most systems only remembers the last item you copied. If you need to access something you copied earlier, it's gone—unless you use a clipboard manager.

CopyQ solves this by keeping a searchable, organized history of everything you copy, including text, images, and more. You can quickly find, edit, and reuse any item.

Setup

Windows installation

With Chocolatey package manager:

choco install copyq

Or download the installer from the official website.

Mac installation

With Homebrew:

brew install --cask copyq

Linux installation

On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install copyq

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install copyq

On Arch:

sudo pacman -S copyq

After installation

Launch CopyQ from your applications menu or by running copyq in a terminal.

You should see the CopyQ icon in your system tray. Click it to open the clipboard history window.

• Copy something (text, image, etc.)
• Open CopyQ: you will see your copied item in the list.
• Double-click an item to paste it, or right-click for more options.

Organizing and Searching

• Use tabs to organize clipboard items by context (e.g., Work, Personal).
• Use the search bar to quickly find past items.

Scripting and Automation

CopyQ supports scripting for advanced automation. You can create custom commands, assign shortcuts, and even run scripts on clipboard changes.

See the official documentation for examples.

Creating a Keyboard Shortcut for CopyQ Menu (Ctrl+Alt+V)

To quickly access your clipboard history, you can set a global shortcut to show the CopyQ menu.

On all OSs:

1. Open CopyQ.
2. Go to File > Preferences > Shortcuts.
3. Find the action called Show/hide main window or Show menu (may vary by version).
4. Click on the shortcut field and press Ctrl+Alt+V.
5. Click OK or Apply.

Now, pressing Ctrl+Alt+V will instantly bring up the CopyQ menu for quick search and paste.

On GNOME-based Linux systems, alternatively create a desktop shortcut by serching shortcut (use the equivalent word in your system language) in start menu, then create a shortcut mapping Ctrl+Alt+V to the command copyq show.

Starting CopyQ automatically on startup (optional)

• On Windows and macOS, CopyQ usually adds itself to startup automatically.
• On Linux, follow this guide.

You can now enjoy a powerful, open-source clipboard manager on all your devices!

For more hacks and tricks, see the copyq cheatsheet