At WWDC 2025, Apple showed off its upcoming macOS Tahoe 26 operating system for Macs, and amongst all the AI fluff and shiny new Liquid Glass design language, there was a relatively small addition that could have a big impact (for me, anyway): Clipboard History.
Now, I’m very lucky that in my line of work I get to try out not only the best laptops in the world, but also the best MacBooks, and while I generally love Apple’s modern range of desktops and laptops, I always find myself returning to Windows 11 for writing because of the excellent Clipboard History feature that can be brought up by pressing Windows + V, allowing you to easily browse previously copied items, rather than pasting the last thing you copied.
Since the feature was added to Windows 10, I’ve been relying on it constantly, so whenever I use a Mac, the feature’s absence in macOS meant I either had to install a third-party app to add the functionality myself, or I’d just switch back to using a Windows machine, even if that machine was otherwise worse than the Mac I was abandoning.
Pasting in the spotlight
The fact that Apple is adding the feature to macOS (as part of a major overhaul of its Spotlight app) is very exciting to me, as having it integrated properly into the operating system should make it both more flexible and convenient.
Saying Apple stole the idea from Microsoft is probably a bit strong – and I doubt Microsoft thought of this feature first – but it definitely feels like Apple was inspired by its competition. From what I’ve seen, Clipboard History in macOS Tahoe does exactly the same thing as the feature in Windows 11, and it even has the same name.
Regardless of who copied (then pasted) whom, if this allows me to work on my M4 Mac mini rather than booting into Windows 11 on an aging work laptop, then I’m going to be very happy – and it could mean my Windows 11 devices will only be touched when I want to play a game.
I’ll be looking forward to giving this new feature a go, either in the macOS Tahoe 26 public beta, which will launch in July, or when the final version is released later this year.
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matthew.hanson@futurenet.com (Matt Hanson)
