How to see which app you copied from on macOS
You can do this with Paste My. Every clipping records where it came from, which turns “I copied it somewhere this morning” into a filter rather than a memory test.
Half the time you do not remember what you copied — you remember where you were when you copied it. In a browser. In your notes. In the middle of writing an email.
That is a much easier thing to search for, and every clipping records it.
Read and filter by source
Read the mark on an entry
Each clipping shows two things about its origin. The badge on the left is the kind — text, a link, an image, a file, code. The small disc sitting on that badge is the app you copied it in, with that app's own icon.
So a snippet from Safari is distinguishable from one from your notes without reading a word of either.
Every entry remembers where it came from. The top one arrived from an iPhone; the one below it was copied in Safari on this Mac. See which device it came from
Clippings also record which device they came from, and there are exactly three answers.
- This Mac — you copied it here.
- Another Apple device — it arrived over Universal Clipboard from an iPhone, iPad or another Mac.
- Unverified — the signals disagree, so rather than guess, the entry says so.
Each verdict comes with a short reason you can read in the item's details, so it is never just an assertion. Saying “unverified” honestly is more useful than a confident answer that might be wrong.
Filter your history by app
The filters panel has a source-app filter, and it lists every app you have ever copied from — not only the ones running right now. An app you quit hours ago is still there to filter by.
Pick one and your history becomes only what you copied in that app, which is usually a very short list and almost always contains what you were after.
Or search for the app by name
Search can look at a clipping's content alone, or at its content and its details together. With the wider scope, typing an app's name finds everything that came from it.
That is the fastest route when you remember the where but not the what.
What it never asks for
There is a version of this feature that would work by watching your other apps — reading window titles, tracking what is in front. That would require a permission you would be right to hesitate over.
Paste My does not ask for it. Where a clipping came from is worked out without any ability to watch what you are doing, and when the available signals are not conclusive the entry says unverified rather than inventing an answer.
That is the trade: occasionally a less specific answer, and never a permission you would have to think about.
What an entry's details show you
Selecting a clipping opens a detail view built for its kind, and alongside the content there is a short set of facts about the clipping itself.
- The source app — which app you copied it in, with its icon.
- The device verdict and why — this Mac, another Apple device, or unverified, with a plain-language reason rather than a bare label.
- The kind — text, link, image, file or data.
- The size — how much the clipping takes up.
- When you copied it — the capture date and time.
It is a reassuring panel rather than a technical one, and it is worth reading once: seeing exactly what is recorded about a clipping is the fastest way to be confident about what is not.
Sessions use the same information. Clippings made in the same app around the same time are grouped into a session automatically, so you can go back to everything you gathered during one stretch of work.
If the source looks wrong
An entry says unverified
That is the honest answer rather than an error. It means the signals available did not agree, so the entry declines to claim a device it is not sure about.
The clipping itself is unaffected — it is complete, and copying it back works exactly the same way.
An app you use is missing from the filter
The list holds every app you have copied from. An app that is missing is one you have not copied from since you started keeping a history — or one you excluded.
An app on your ignore list has its copies skipped entirely, including its name, so it will never appear in this list. That is what the ignore list is for.
Something from your iPhone is not marked as such
Only content that actually travelled over Universal Clipboard carries that mark. Something you typed again on the Mac, or moved across by another route, was copied here and is marked as this Mac — correctly.
Questions people ask
Does it need permission to see which app I copied from?
No. Paste My never asks for the permission that would let it read window titles or watch your other apps. Where something came from is established without it.
What does “unverified” mean?
That the signals disagreed. Rather than pick one and sound confident, the entry says so and shows you the reasoning. The clipping is complete either way.
Can I filter to just one app?
Yes. The filters panel has a source-app filter listing every app you have ever copied from, including ones that are not running.
Does it record what I was doing in that app?
No. It records that a clipping came from that app. Nothing about the app's contents, your activity in it, or anything you did not copy.
Why does my iPhone copy take a moment to appear?
Because it waits for the transfer to finish before saving. That way the entry holds the complete item rather than a half-arrived version of it.
Are clippings from the same app grouped together?
Automatically. Copies made in the same app around the same time form a session, so you can revisit everything you gathered during one stretch of work rather than picking it out of the general flow.
Does the source app name ever change after the fact?
No. The app a clipping came from is recorded when you copy it and does not change afterwards, so an entry from three weeks ago is as reliable as one from a minute ago.
What if I copy from an app that is not running any more?
It makes no difference. The source-app filter lists every app you have ever copied from, so an app you quit hours ago is still there to filter by.
Get Paste My
Free on the Mac App Store. Everything you copy, kept on your Mac and ready the instant you need it again.