How to Install and Configure Maccy (2026 Setup Guide)

To set up Maccy, install it with brew install --cask maccy, from the GitHub releases page, or from the Mac App Store. Launch it, grant Accessibility permission if you want automatic pasting, then press Shift + Command + C to open your clipboard history. The whole process takes about ten minutes.

What do you need before installing Maccy?

You need a Mac running a recent version of macOS. Maccy App‘s minimum supported version has moved up over the years, so check the requirements on the releases page for the build you’re downloading. There are no accounts, no sign-up, and no cloud service involved.

How do you install Maccy? Three options compared

All three give you the same app. The free routes aren’t cut-down versions. Maccy Mac is open source, so the App Store listing is a convenience option, not a premium tier.

Install with Homebrew

brew install --cask maccy

To update later:

brew upgrade --cask maccy

Install from GitHub

1. Open the Maccy releases page on GitHub and download the latest release.
2. Open the download and drag Maccy into your Applications folder.
3. Launch it from Applications. If macOS asks you to confirm opening an app downloaded from the internet, approve it.

Install from the Mac App Store

Search for Maccy Clipboard in the App Store, install it, and open it like any other app. Pick one channel and stick with it. Running a Homebrew copy and an App Store copy side by side leads to two menu bar icons and confusing update behavior.

How do you open Maccy for the first time?

After launch, Maccy adds an icon to the menu bar. Click it, or press Shift + Command + C, to open the history popup. Copy a few things in any app and they appear in the list, newest first. Type to search immediately, press Return to select, or use the number shortcuts shown beside the first items.

Why won’t Maccy paste automatically? (Accessibility permission)

Maccy can only paste for you after you grant it Accessibility permission. Without it, selecting an item copies it back to the clipboard, and you press Command + V yourself. That’s expected macOS behavior, not a bug.

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
2. Turn on the toggle next to Maccy. If it isn’t listed, click + and add it from Applications.
3. Quit and reopen Maccy.

If the toggle is already on but pasting still fails, remove Maccy from the list, add it again, and relaunch. This is the usual fix after an app update or a move between install channels, because macOS ties the permission to the specific app copy.

Which Maccy settings are worth changing first?

Open settings from the Maccy menu bar icon, or press Command + , while Maccy is the active app. Tab names can shift slightly between versions. These are the ones that matter most.

Choosing a search mode

• Exact matches the literal text you type. Predictable, but unforgiving of typos.
• Fuzzy tolerates skipped letters, so “mccy” can still find “Maccy”. Fast and forgiving.
• Regex lets you search with patterns, handy for finding every copied URL or order number.
• Mixed combines approaches. Try it if you can’t decide.

Fuzzy matching can surface loosely related items above exact ones. If your history is large and you keep finding the wrong entry, switch to exact.

Setting a sensible history size

More history isn’t automatically better. A huge list makes browsing slower for you, and it keeps sensitive text on disk longer. For most people a few hundred items covers days of normal work. Raise the limit only if you regularly need to dig further back.

How do you keep passwords out of Maccy?

Add your password manager to Maccy’s ignored applications list, and review what else you copy from. Every clipboard manager records what you copy unless told otherwise, so this step matters.

1. Open Maccy’s settings and go to the Ignore section.
2. Add your password manager (1Password, Bitwarden, Keychain-adjacent tools, and so on) to the ignored applications list.
3. Optionally add other apps you never want recorded, such as banking tools.

Many password managers also flag copied secrets as concealed, and Maccy honors that convention by default. Treat this as a safety net, not a guarantee. A secret you copy from a browser form, a terminal, or a plain text file carries no such flag, so Maccy will record it. You can delete any single item from the history, or clear everything, from the popup at any time.

Everything Maccy stores stays on your Mac. There is no sync service and no account, which is the point of a local-first design. Clearing history or uninstalling is all it takes to remove the data.

What are the essential Maccy shortcuts?

Pinned items stay at the top and survive history clearing, which makes them a good home for snippets you paste daily, such as an email signature, a support reply, or a shell command.

Troubleshooting: what to check when something’s off

• Nothing happens when I press the hotkey. Another app may own the shortcut. Change Maccy’s hotkey in settings and test again.
• Items copy but don’t paste. Accessibility permission is missing or stale. Re-add Maccy, then relaunch it.
• Images or files aren’t showing up. Check that those content types are enabled in storage settings.
• The menu bar icon disappeared. A crowded menu bar can hide icons on notched Macs. Quit a few other menu bar apps, or open Maccy with its hotkey.
• It stopped after a restart. Enable launch at login.

How do you update or uninstall Maccy?

Update through the channel you installed from: brew upgrade --cask maccy for Homebrew, the App Store for the store version, or a fresh release download from GitHub. To uninstall, quit Maccy and drag it to the Trash, or run:

brew uninstall --cask maccy

Frequently asked questions

What is the default Maccy keyboard shortcut?

Shift + Command + C. You can change it in settings.

Why doesn’t Maccy paste automatically?

It needs Accessibility permission under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Enable it and restart Maccy.

How do I stop Maccy from saving passwords?

Add your password manager to the ignored applications list. Concealed clipboard entries from well-behaved password managers are skipped by default, but secrets copied from other places are not.

How do I make Maccy start at login?

Turn on the launch at login option in Maccy’s settings.

How do I uninstall Maccy?

Quit it and move it to the Trash, or use brew uninstall --cask maccy if you installed with Homebrew.

Your setup, in one pass

The defaults are good, and most of the value comes from three changes: grant Accessibility so pasting is one keystroke, add your password manager to the ignore list, and pick a search mode that matches how you look for things. Everything else is preference.

Ready to try it? You can download Maccy free from the official site and be running in a couple of minutes. Once you’re set up, which will you use first: pinned snippets or regex search?