Maccy crashing on startup

1. Update Maccy

A new macOS can break an older build. Install the latest version via the built-in updater, brew upgrade --cask maccy, or a fresh .dmg. If the crash started right after a macOS update, also see Maccy not working after a macOS update.

2. Restart your Mac

A clean reboot clears half-loaded services and stale state that can crash a menu-bar app on launch.

3. Reset the preferences file

A corrupted settings file is a common culprit and resetting it does not delete your clipboard history (that lives separately).

1. Quit Maccy.
2. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder and enter ~/Library/Preferences.
3. Move org.p0deje.Maccy.plist to your Desktop as a backup.
4. Relaunch Maccy. It starts with default settings; if it now runs, the old preferences were the problem.

4. Move the database if it is damaged

If Maccy still crashes, the history database may be corrupted. Quit Maccy, go to ~/Library/Application Support/Maccy, move that folder to your Desktop, and relaunch. Maccy builds a fresh database. You lose old history, but the app should start normally — confirming the database was the issue.

5. Clean reinstall

Quit Maccy, move it to the Trash, download a fresh copy, and reinstall. For a completely clean slate, follow how to completely uninstall Maccy first, then install again.

6. Check for conflicts

Rarely, another keyboard or clipboard utility launching at login can interfere. Temporarily disable other menu-bar tools in System Settings → General → Login Items and reintroduce them one by one.

If crashes persist, capture the macOS crash report (Console app) and file an issue on the project’s GitHub. More cases in the troubleshooting guide.

Why Maccy crashes on startup

Startup crashes in Maccy almost always come from one of three sources: a corrupted preferences file, a corrupted clipboard history database, or a permissions conflict. These are all fixable in under five minutes.

Fix 1: Reset preferences (safest first step)

defaults delete com.p0deje.Maccy

Run this in Terminal, then relaunch Maccy. This resets all preferences to defaults but does not delete your clipboard history. You’ll need to re-configure your shortcut and preferences after this.

Fix 2: Delete the history database

If the crash persists, the history database may be corrupted:

rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maccy/Maccy.sqlite
rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maccy/Maccy.sqlite-shm
rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maccy/Maccy.sqlite-wal

Warning: This deletes your entire clipboard history. Only do this if Fix 1 did not resolve the crash.

Fix 3: Full clean reinstall

1. Quit Maccy if running
2. Move Maccy.app to Trash from /Applications/
3. Run in Terminal:

   defaults delete com.p0deje.Maccy
   rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maccy
   rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.p0deje.Maccy

4. Empty Trash
5. Download the latest version from maccymanager.com/download
6. Install and launch
7. Grant Accessibility permission when prompted

Fix 4: Check for macOS permission issues

Rarely, Maccy can crash if it cannot write to its Application Support directory. Check:

ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maccy

The folder should be owned by your user with read/write permissions. If it shows a different owner, fix it with:

sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maccy

Reporting the crash

If none of these fixes work, check the crash report:

1. Open Console.app (in Applications/Utilities)
2. Click Crash Reports in the sidebar
3. Find the most recent Maccy entry
4. The crash report contains the exact error and stack trace

Include this information when opening a GitHub issue at github.com/p0deje/Maccy/issues. The maintainer is responsive and startup crashes are typically fixed in the next update.