Windows + V on Mac: The Clipboard History Shortcut

What Windows + V does

On Windows 10 and 11, ⊞ V opens a small clipboard history panel next to where you’re typing. You pick an earlier item and it’s pasted straight in. People who switch to a Mac miss it more than almost any other shortcut, because macOS only remembers the last thing you copied.

Windows clipboard shortcuts and their Mac equivalents

Set up Windows + V on your Mac

1. Get MacClip and open it. It lives in your menu bar.
2. Grant Accessibility access when asked. MacClip needs it only to press ⌘V for you when you pick a clip.
3. Copy a few things as you normally would.
4. While typing in any app, press ⌃⌘V. Quick Paste opens at your text cursor.
5. Click a clip, or press ⏎ or ⌘1–9, and it’s pasted into the field. ⇧⏎ pastes plain text.

Used to the Windows key combination? You can rebind Quick Paste in MacClip’s settings, for example to ⌥V or ⌃V.

Where MacClip goes beyond Windows + V

• Longer memory: Windows keeps 25 items; MacClip keeps up to 5,000, plus pinned clips that never expire.
• Search: fuzzy matching and filters such as type:code, app:figma and is:pinned.
• Previews: highlighted code, colour swatches in 8 formats, link details, images and files.
• Merge paste: pick several clips and paste them together, joined by new lines, commas or tabs.
• Transforms: 22 one-click conversions, including camelCase, snake_case, pretty JSON, URL and Base64 encoding, and sorted lines.
• Private: nothing leaves your Mac, and passwords, API keys and card numbers are never stored.

Does it work in every app?

Yes. Quick Paste works in any app where you can type, including Mail, Messages, Slack, Notes, Xcode, VS Code, browsers and Figma. If an app doesn’t report its text cursor position, MacClip opens the popup at your mouse pointer or the centre of the screen instead. You can choose this in settings.

Want the full picture of how clipboard history works on macOS? Read how to see clipboard history on Mac.