Maccy keyboard shortcuts — complete guide
Maccy is built to be driven entirely from the keyboard. Learn a handful of shortcuts and you will pull any past copy in under a second. Here is the complete set — all rebindable to your taste.
The essentials
| Shortcut | |
|---|---|
| Open clipboard history | ⌘ ⇧ C |
| Search history | Just start typing |
| Move through items | ↑ ↓ |
| Paste selected item | ↵ |
| Paste as plain text | ⌥ ⇧ ↵ |
| Quick-pick an item | ⌥ 1 – ⌥ 9 |
| Pin / unpin item | ⌥ P |
| Delete selected item | ⌥ ⌫ |
| Close Maccy | esc |
These are the defaults; the exact bindings and the latest additions are listed on the shortcuts cheat sheet, which you can also print.
Open and search
Press ⌘ ⇧ C from any app and simply start typing — Maccy filters as you go with fuzzy matching, so a few characters usually surface the item you want. No mouse required.
Paste, and paste clean
Press ↵ to paste the highlighted item with its original formatting. To paste it as plain text — no fonts, colours, or links — use ⌥ ⇧ ↵ (or hold ⌥ ⇧ while clicking). This is the reliable way to strip formatting anywhere; see how to paste without formatting.
Quick-pick by number
Hold ⌥ and press a number to paste that position in the list instantly — ⌥ 1 for the most recent, and so on. Once it is muscle memory, you rarely look at the list at all.
Pin and delete
Press ⌥ P to pin the selected item so it stays at hand and is never auto-purged (more on pinning). Press ⌥ ⌫ to remove an item you do not want kept.
Rebind anything
Every shortcut is configurable in Settings → Hotkeys. If your summon shortcut clashes with the system or stops working in password fields, switch it — see keyboard shortcut not working for the why and how.
Opening and navigating Maccy
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘⇧C | Open Maccy history (default, customisable) |
| ↓ / ↑ | Move between items in the list |
| Type anything | Search clipboard history in real time |
| Return | Paste selected item (rich text) |
| ⌘Return | Paste selected item as plain text |
| Escape | Close Maccy without pasting |
Managing items
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘P | Pin / unpin selected item |
| ⌘Delete | Delete selected item from history |
| ⌘A | Select all items |
| 1–9 | Quick-select item 1 through 9 (pastes immediately) |
Quick-pick with number keys
When Maccy is open, pressing 1 through 9 immediately pastes the corresponding item (item 1 is at the top, usually the most recently copied). This is the fastest paste method: open Maccy, press 1 — done. No arrow keys, no Return.
Combined with pinning, this gives you a permanent quick-access library: pin your top 9 most-used snippets and they are always at positions 1–9 at the top of the list.
Changing the main shortcut
- Open Maccy Preferences → General
- Click the shortcut field next to “Open Maccy”
- Press your desired key combination
- Close Preferences
Avoid common system shortcuts. Good options that rarely conflict: ⌘⇧V, ⌥Space, ⌃⌥V.
Using Maccy without a mouse
Maccy is fully keyboard-operable. The intended workflow is:
- Press the global shortcut → Maccy opens
- Type 1–3 characters to filter → results narrow
- Press Return or a number key → pasted
Total time from open to paste: typically under 2 seconds. The mouse never needs to be touched.