xcv

Your clipboard,
in the notch.

Press ⇧⌘V and everything you've copied springs out of the top of your screen. Text, links, images, files and colours, ready to paste straight back where you were.

Download on theMac App Store Free download · macOS 15 or later
The xcv island open at the top of the screen, showing clipboard cards: a message, a photo, a link, a colour swatch and a code snippet.
Features

Everything you copy, one keystroke away.

xcv quietly keeps what you copy and gives it back the moment you need it, without a window to manage or a Dock icon in the way.

Lives in the notch

One spring turns the notch into your history. On a Mac without a notch, it springs from the top centre of the screen and stays out of sight until you need it.

A card for everything

Photos show as thumbnails, links show their site, colours become swatches, files keep their icons. Each card shows the app it came from.

Straight back to work

Return copies the card and drops you back in the app you were using, ready for ⌘V, or turn on Paste Directly and it pastes for you. ⌘↩ copies as plain text, and ⌘1–9 grabs one of the first nine cards.

Type to search

Start typing and the strip narrows as you go. Filter by text, links, images, files or colours with a click.

Pin the keepers

Addresses, replies you send every week, the hex code you always forget. ⌘P keeps them forever.

Drag, drop, preview

Drag any card into another app, save an image or snippet as a file wherever you like, or drop things onto the island to add them to your history. Space opens Quick Look.

Find it in a few letters.

Search looks through the text, the site, the file name and the app something came from, so “invoice safari” finds exactly the link you meant.

⌘FTabEsc
Searching the xcv island for “design”: the cards narrow to a link, a PDF, a calendar note and an email signature.

Keep what you reuse.

Pinned items live in their own tab and never expire, whatever your history settings.

⌘P⌘←⌘→
The Pinned tab of the xcv island: an email signature, an address, a colour and a Terminal command, each with a ⌘ number for quick paste.

Look closer, right in the island.

Hover over an image, a link or a parcel tracking number and press ⌘I. The island grows to show the text in a screenshot and any QR code in it, where a link really goes and what it's tracking, or which carrier has your parcel, with a QR code to take it to your phone. It's all worked out on your Mac. Space still opens a full Quick Look preview of any card.

⌘ISpace←→
The xcv island grown to show details for a copied event pass: its size, colours, the web address in its QR code and the text read from it.

Top, bottom or side.

Prefer a panel that slides in from an edge? Move the island to the top, bottom, left or right of the screen. The sides use a vertical list.

xcv as a vertical panel along the right edge of the screen.
Privacy

Private by design.

Your clipboard holds passwords, addresses and half-written messages. xcv treats it that way.

  • Stays on your MacHistory stays on this Mac, private to xcv. Nothing is uploaded, synced or shared.
  • No network access at allxcv runs in the macOS App Sandbox without permission to use the network, so it can't send anything anywhere.
  • Passwords are skippedAnything a password manager marks as concealed is never recorded, and you can exclude any app.
  • You decide how longKeep items for a day or forever, pause recording, or clear everything in one click.

No accounts. No analytics. No tracking. This website doesn't track you either: no cookies, no analytics, nothing loaded from anyone else. Read the privacy policy.

xcv's welcome tour page titled Private by design, listing how the app handles your data.
Pricing

Free to use. Pay once for more.

xcv is a free download with no time limit. Unlock it once to lift the limits. No account, no subscription.

Free

$0forever

For as long as you like. No sign-up.

  • Your newest 25 items
  • Up to 3 pins
  • Search, filters, drag and drop and Quick Look
  • Every privacy feature, always
One-time purchase

Unlock xcv

$9.99once · USD

A single in-app purchase through the App Store.

  • Your whole history, up to the limits you set
  • Unlimited pins
  • Pay once, keep it: no subscription
  • Restore it on every Mac you use

In the free version, older items are only hidden, never deleted. Unlock and they're all back. Prices outside the US are set by the App Store in your local currency. Payment is handled entirely by Apple; xcv never sees your payment details.

Keyboard

Never reach for the mouse.

Show or hide the island
⇧⌘V
Previous / next card
←→
Copy and return to your app
↩
Copy as plain text
⌘↩
Copy card 1–9
⌘1–9
Copy card 1–9 as plain text
⌥⌘1–9
Quick Look
Space
Details
⌘I
Copy without pasting
⌘C
Pin or unpin
⌘P
Open link or file
⌘O
Search
⌘F or just type
History / Pinned
⌘←⌘→
First / last card
⌘↑⌘↓
Delete card
⌫
Questions

Good to know.

What permissions does xcv need?

Just the clipboard. On newer versions of macOS, the system asks before an app reads the clipboard in the background; choose “Always Allow” so your history stays complete.

If you turn on Paste Directly in Settings, xcv also asks for Accessibility so it can press ⌘V for you. It's off by default, and xcv never uses it to read your screen or other apps.

Does my clipboard history ever leave my Mac?

No. xcv has no network access at all, so your history can't be uploaded, synced or sent anywhere. It lives in xcv's own folder on your Mac until you delete it.

What's limited in the free version?

Only how much you see at once: your newest 25 items and up to 3 pins. Every feature works, and xcv keeps recording. Older items are hidden, not deleted, and come back the moment you unlock.

Does it work on a Mac without a notch?

Yes. The island springs from the top centre of the screen, or you can have it slide in from any edge.

More answers and support