How to migrate clipboard history to Maccy

Migrating from another clipboard manager

Apps like Paste, Pastebot, Raycast, Flycut, and CopyClip keep their history in proprietary databases, and none export a format Maccy can import. So a literal history transfer is generally not possible — this is a limitation of the ecosystem, not of Maccy specifically.

The practical migration is painless anyway:

1. Install Maccy and let it start capturing new copies (see install and configure).
2. Open your old manager one last time and re-copy the handful of snippets you actually rely on — they land in Maccy instantly.
3. Pin those essentials in Maccy so they are permanent (how to pin).
4. Remove the old app once you are comfortable.

In practice, only a small number of clips are worth keeping; everything else regenerates naturally as you work. For app-specific notes, see switching from Paste, from Raycast, or from Alfred.

Migrating Maccy history to a new Mac

Moving between your own Macs is a true transfer, because the format is identical:

1. Install Maccy on the new Mac and quit it.
2. On the old Mac, copy ~/Library/Application Support/Maccy (use Finder’s Go → Go to Folder).
3. Place that folder at the same path on the new Mac, replacing the empty one.
4. Relaunch Maccy — your full history is there.

Step-by-step with backup tips: how to back up your Maccy clipboard history.

Keeping pins in sync going forward

To avoid manual moves later, enable iCloud sync so pinned items follow you across Macs automatically. Full history stays per-device; see iCloud sync vs local storage.

Can you import history from another clipboard manager?

Maccy does not have an import function for other apps’ history formats. Each app stores history differently (Paste uses Core Data, Alfred uses custom plists, etc.), and there is no universal migration tool.

The practical approach: start using Maccy now. Going forward, everything you copy is automatically in Maccy’s history. For items you absolutely need from your old app, copy them manually — Maccy will capture each one immediately.

Switching from Paste

1. In Paste, open your history and identify the 10–20 items you use most often
2. Copy each one to the clipboard (Paste just needs you to click/select it)
3. Maccy captures each copy automatically
4. In Maccy, pin the important ones (⌘P) so they stay permanently
5. Disable or uninstall Paste

See the full Paste to Maccy migration guide.

Switching from Raycast clipboard

1. In Raycast, open Clipboard History
2. For important items, press Return to copy them — Maccy captures each one
3. Disable Raycast’s clipboard feature in Raycast Preferences → Extensions → Clipboard History → disable
4. Maccy takes over clipboard capture exclusively

See the Raycast to Maccy migration guide.

Switching from Alfred clipboard

1. Open Alfred’s clipboard viewer
2. Copy important snippets — Maccy captures them
3. In Alfred Preferences → Features → Clipboard History, disable “Keep Plain Text” and “Keep Images”
4. Maccy is now your sole clipboard manager

Running both apps during transition

You can run Maccy alongside your current clipboard manager temporarily. Both will capture new clipboard items (they both monitor the clipboard). The risk is that one app’s paste action might conflict with the other’s keyboard shortcut.

Change one app’s shortcut during the transition to avoid conflicts. Once you have moved your important clips to Maccy, disable the old app.

Setting up Maccy from scratch on a new Mac

If you are setting up Maccy on a new Mac with no history to migrate:

1. Install Maccy from maccymanager.com/download or brew install --cask maccy
2. Grant Accessibility permission
3. If you want to restore history from another Mac, enable iCloud sync on both and wait a few minutes
4. For manual history transfer, copy important items on the old Mac into Maccy (they sync via iCloud to the new one)