Maccy history retention and size limits
How much does Maccy remember, and for how long? It comes down to one setting — the history size limit — plus how pinning interacts with it. Here is how retention works and how to tune it.
The history size limit
Maccy’s retention is governed by a maximum item count. When your history reaches the limit, adding a new copy pushes out the oldest unpinned one. Raise the limit for a deeper, longer-reaching history; lower it to keep things lean and purge old clips sooner. Find it in Settings → Storage.
What counts, and what does not
- Unpinned items count toward the limit and are purged oldest-first.
- Pinned items are exempt — they stay regardless of the limit (pinning guide).
Retention as privacy control
A smaller limit is also a privacy lever: the less you retain, the shorter the window anything sensitive could linger. Pair a modest limit with the ignore list for a tidy, low-exposure history. To wipe what is already stored, see how to clear clipboard history.
Disk space and images
Text items are tiny, so even a large text history uses little space. Images are heavier, so an image-rich history grows faster — details in image and file support. If disk use matters, either cap the item count or lean on pins for the few things you truly need.
Want to keep everything?
Set a high limit and pin essentials — effectively a permanent archive. See how to keep clipboard history forever, and back it up via how to back up your history.
Performance at scale
Maccy stays fast even with a large history thanks to its instant search, so a generous limit rarely hurts responsiveness. Pick the depth that fits how you work; for most people a comfortably large limit plus a handful of pins is ideal.
Default history settings
Maccy ships with a history size of 200 items. When you reach 200 items, the oldest one is removed to make room for the newest. This is a rolling window, not a hard stop — Maccy never pauses or shows errors when the limit is reached.
The history is stored in an SQLite database at ~/Library/Application Support/Maccy/Maccy.sqlite and survives restarts (unless “Clear on Quit” is enabled).
Changing the history size
- Open Maccy Preferences (⌘,)
- Go to the History tab
- Change the Size value
The maximum is 999,999 items. For most users, 1,000–5,000 is practical. Above 10,000 items, search performance may start to show slightly longer response times (still fast, but measurable).
What “clear on quit” does
When enabled, Maccy deletes the entire history every time the app quits — including when your Mac restarts. If you reboot and find an empty history, this setting is the cause. Disable it in Preferences → History → uncheck Clear History on Quit.
Memory and performance at different history sizes
| History size | Typical RAM usage | Search speed |
|---|---|---|
| 200 items (default) | ~12–15 MB | <10ms |
| 1,000 items | ~14–18 MB | <15ms |
| 5,000 items | ~18–22 MB | <25ms |
| 10,000 items | ~22–28 MB | <40ms |
| 50,000 items | ~35–50 MB | <80ms |
Even at 50,000 items, Maccy remains faster than most clipboard managers at their default size. The SQLite full-text search index is efficient at scale.
Image and file items vs text items
Image items take more storage than text items. A screenshot in clipboard history can be 1–5 MB, while a text item is typically 1–5 KB. If you copy many images, the Maccy.sqlite file will grow accordingly.
You can exclude images from history to keep the database small: Maccy Preferences → Appearance → uncheck Images. This is useful on Macs with limited disk space or when you never need to retrieve copied images.
Clearing history manually
- Clear all: Open Maccy → ⌘A (select all) → Delete
- Clear one item: Highlight it → ⌘Delete
- Clear via Preferences: Maccy Preferences → Storage → Clear History
Pinned items are not deleted by “Clear All” unless you specifically unpin them first. This means you can safely clear your entire regular history without losing your pinned snippets.