FlyCut: Multiple Clipboards for the Rest of Us

One of my biggest beefs with Mac OS X is its clipboard it can only store one copied (or cut) item in memory.

But what happens when you want to keep multiple items in your clipboard?

That’s when you download FlyCut – a free and intuitive clipboard application for Mac OS X.

Read on to find out if FlyCut is for you.

What is FlyCut?

Simply put, every time you copy or cut text, FlyCut stores your “clipping” in a temporary stack for later retrieval.

FlyCut lives in your menu bar. You can access your recent “clippings” there, or you can trigger your clipping list via a global keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-V).

Below is a screenshot of the FlyCut menu.

…and here’s a screenshot of the FlyCut Heads-Up-Display (HUD) when invoked via Command-Shift-V.

FlyCut’s preferences are divided into three sections. The General section lets you control the look and feel of the HUD. You can also choose the number of “clippings” you want FlyCut to store, as well as fine-tune the number of “clippings” you want to have visible within FlyCut’s menubar interface.

My favorite part is the Dropbox sync feature. If you have FlyCut on more than one Mac, you can share the same clipboard. Try doing that with the standard Mac clipboard!

The HotKeys section of FlyCut lets you customize its global keyboard shortcut. I’m perfectly happy using its default configuration.

The last pane controls the bezel’s appearance. You can toggle the HUD’s transparency, width and height to your liking. If you prefer an animated look when FlyCut is invoked, you can enable that option. (I prefer the non-animated appearance, personally.)

How it Works

You copy text just like you normally would (Command-C). Everytime you copy or cut text it’s stored in FlyCut’s stack. To paste an item from FlyCut, start off by placing the cursor where you want your text to appear.

Next, access the stack by way of the menu bard or Shift-Command-V. When you use the keyboard shortcut, a HUD bezel appears. Use your arrow keys to cycle between the stack items. Hit “return” to select the stack item you want and it will automatically paste itself where your cursor is located.

That’s it!

Why I Like It

If you rely on copy / paste as much as I do, FlyCut is an indispensable utility to have in your arsenal. It’s free, it’s fast, and it blows away the standard Mac clipboard in every way. FlyCut is particularly useful because you can share the same memory stack between multiple machines (as long as you have DropBox).

FlyCut is available from the Mac App Store. It’s a must-have utility for your Mac. Give it a whirl!

FlyCut earns 5 out of 5 Bob Weiners.

-Krishna

Krishna October 23, 2012 clipboard, Mac OS X, productivity software