A clipboard manager built for developer workflows
You screenshot a build error. You copy an API key you'll need in thirty seconds. You paste a stack trace into Slack. Clipboard Doctor keeps the full history — and makes text inside screenshots searchable, so you can find that error message without retyping it.
Download for macOS — freemacOS 13+ · 2-minute install guide
The scenarios it solves
You screenshot a failing CI log, a cryptic compiler error, or a crash report. Later you search for part of the error text — Clipboard Doctor finds the screenshot because it ran OCR on it when you copied it. No more squinting at thumbnails.
You copy an API key from a dashboard, paste it into a .env file, and then need it again twenty minutes later in a different terminal. It's still in your clipboard history, waiting. No tab-switching, no re-generating.
That curl command you wrote last week. The git stash pop you always forget the syntax for. The SQL query you spent an hour on. Clipboard Doctor keeps your copy history across reboots — pin the ones you reach for constantly.
Copy a stack trace, a JSON blob, a diff. It's all in history, deduplicated, searchable by text. No need to scroll back through terminal sessions.
Why it works offline and handles sensitive data safely
Developers copy credentials. That's the reality. Clipboard Doctor stores history locally in a sandboxed container — never uploaded, never synced to iCloud or any server. You can verify this with Little Snitch: zero outbound connections during normal use.
- No account, no cloud sync — history stays on your Mac.
- OCR runs on-device using Apple's Vision framework — images are never uploaded to process.
- Works fully offline — on planes, VPNs, air-gapped networks.
- macOS sandbox protects the storage from other apps.
Native, lightweight — won't fight your CPU
It's a SwiftUI menu-bar app. On Apple Silicon, OCR offloads to the Neural Engine so it doesn't compete with your builds or your editor. On Intel, the Vision framework runs brief background-only jobs. No Electron, no JVM, no background daemon eating RAM.
Questions
Can I search for an error message I saw in a screenshot?
Yes. Clipboard Doctor runs on-device OCR on every image you copy. Screenshot a terminal error, a stack trace, or a CI log — the text inside is indexed and searchable immediately.
Does it capture passwords and API keys from the clipboard?
Everything you copy is stored, including credentials — in a sandboxed local container on your Mac, never uploaded. If you want to exclude specific apps (like a password manager), you can configure that in preferences.
Does it slow down the terminal or IDE?
No. It's a native menu-bar app. OCR runs asynchronously on Apple's Neural Engine — it doesn't compete with compile jobs or your editor's language server.
How far back does clipboard history go?
As far as you configure — the default keeps hundreds of items; you can raise or lower the limit in preferences. History survives reboots.
What's the global hotkey?
⌃⇧W brings up the history panel from any app. Configurable in preferences.
Also see: search text inside screenshots · offline & private · vs Maccy