How To Clear Clipboard On Mac

Mac is the Macintosh Computer, a desktop computer developed by Apple Inc. Its Operating system is usually referred to as Mac OS and is used today widely. Its better performance and regular updates help in keeping the PC running at a smooth pace and it has a variety of features. But finding all these easy-to-learn features in our MAC computer depends on us.

Talking about one of these features, the Mac clipboard is a part of the Mac OS that stores recently copied/ cut information and can be used for pasting one or more copied messages one by one. This feature is extremely useful when editing documents, copying messages and pasting them into a document, writing stories, forwarding messages, creating virtual notes, etc.  Copying as well as Pasting is pretty easy, but what are you supposed to do if your clipboard is full, and you need to copy-paste some new data. That’s when you need to clear the clipboard.

Now, the question which arises is,” how-to clear is the clipboard on Mac?” So now, let me guide you through the process of clearing a clipboard step by step.

How to clear your clipboard?

There are some extremely easy ways to clear your clipboard on a Mac. You can try the following methods for that purpose:

Method 1: Use Terminal

The Terminal is an application present in the Mac OS which can be used to clear the clipboard.

Use the terminal after following these steps:

• Go to Finder
• Search in the Applications for Terminal
• Copy and paste this part there: pbcopy < /dev/null
• The clipboard will turn to null i.e. empty. 

This will make sure that your clipboard is cleared. Using a terminal to clear the clipboard is an effective method as it will pass through the back-end.

Method 2: Copy a space.

Copying a space will empty the clipboard since nothing is actually being copied in this case.

To copy a space, try this:

1. Use any document.
2. Copy space in between two words
3. And now your clipboard is empty.

The above method of copying a space is a unique way to clear a clipboard. It may work on the majority of Mac versions.

Method 3: Restart using Finder

Restarting will delete the old data on the clipboard. And later you can log out to delete it as well. To try this out, make use of the following steps:

1. Open Finder
2. Click on the Apple icon
3. Select Restart option
4. Log out of your account and log in using a different account.

Now, let’s know about a few basics of using the clipboard.

How to view your clipboard?

By viewing the clipboard, you’ll be easily able to see the data you’ve copied or cut recently stored there. And it’ll help you to distinguish whether what you have copied is important and what is unimportant. To view the clipboard, use these easy steps:

1. Use finder
2. Click on the Edit Drop Down Menu.
3. Select the option as Show Clipboard

And this is how you will be able to easily see the clipboard.

How to copy data into your clipboard?

Copying data will help you in transferring it from one place to another. To copy data, you can use three different ways:

Method 1: Use Command + C as the shortcut keys

Steps:

1. Select the data you want to copy.
2. Press Command and C together after selecting the data.
3. View the clipboard to check whether the data has been copied properly or not.

Method 2: Use Menu Bar

    Steps:

1. Select data that you plan to copy
2. Go to Menu Bar
3. Click the Edit option.
4. Click Copy from the options for editing.

Method 3: Use Shortcut Menu

1. Select the data to be copied.
2. Right-click using the mouse.
3. Choose the Copy option from the Shortcut menu.

How to cut data in your clipboard?

Cutting data will help you in removing data from one place and transferring it to another. To cut data, you can use three different ways:

Method 1:

Use Command + X as the shortcut keys

Steps:

• Select the data you want to cut.
• Press Command and X together after selecting the data.
• View the clipboard to check whether the data has been cut and copied on the clipboard properly or not.

Method 2:

    Use Menu Bar

    Steps:

• Select data that you plan to cut
• Go to Menu Bar
• Click the Edit option.
• Click Cut from the options for editing.

Method 3:

    Use Shortcut Menu

    Steps:

4. Select the data to be cut.
5. Right-click using the mouse.
6. Choose the Cut option from the Shortcut menu.

How to paste data into your clipboard?

Pasting data is pretty simple and useful. To paste data, you can use three different ways:

Method 1:

Use Command + V as the shortcut keys

Steps:

1. View the clipboard to see the data ready to be pasted.
2. Press Command and V together to paste the data.

Method 2:

    Use Menu Bar

    Steps:

1. Go to Menu Bar
2. Click the Edit option.
3. Click Copy from the options for editing.

Method 3:

    Use Shortcut Menu

    Steps:

1. Right-click using the mouse.
2. Choose the Paste option from the Shortcut menu.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Conclusion

We hope that our guide helped you to clear the clipboard on Mac. Even though we believe in being thorough, let us know if we missed something. Do not forget to share your feedback on our guide. Till then, kudos!