The Mac clipboard holds one item, and copying replaces it. Win+V, the panel of recent copies, arrived in macOS only with version 26: press Space for Spotlight, then 4, and the last eight hours of copies are listed. macOS 14 and 15 have nothing built in.

Two things the Mac does have:

  • The Finder clipboard is separate from the text one in practice: copying a file and then some text does not lose the file until you copy another file.
  • Universal Clipboard: copy on an iPhone, paste on the Mac, when both are signed in to the same Apple Account and near each other.

Clipboard managers have been a Mac staple for years: a hotkey opens a list of recent copies, typing filters it, Return pastes. The good ones skip anything a password manager puts on the clipboard.