Getting started

HandyPaste keeps the text you type again and again (replies, addresses, prompts, code) and pastes it into any app on your Mac. This page takes you from download to your first paste in about five minutes.

1. Install

HandyPaste for Mac is coming soon to the Mac App Store. It needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later.

Coming soonto the Mac App Store

After you install it, HandyPaste lives in the menu bar (the hand icon at the top right of your screen). It shows a Dock icon only while one of its windows is open.

2. Allow pasting

On first launch, a welcome window explains the shortcut and asks for one permission: Accessibility. macOS requires it before an app can press keys for you. HandyPaste uses it to press ⌘V in the app you're typing in.

1. Click Allow… next to “Let HandyPaste paste for you” in the welcome window.
2. System Settings opens at Privacy & Security ▸ Accessibility. Turn on HandyPaste.
3. Switch back to HandyPaste. The welcome window shows that pasting is on.

You can skip this

Without the permission, HandyPaste still works: it copies the snippet and you press ⌘V yourself. You can allow pasting any time later in Settings ▸ Pasting.

The welcome window also shows whether iCloud sync is on. It's on by default, so your snippets follow you to your other Macs. See iCloud sync and backups.

3. Save your first snippet

Open the library: click the menu bar icon and choose Open Snippet Library, or press ⌘O while the picker is open.

1. Press ⌘N for a new snippet.
2. Type a title, for example Home Address.
3. Type the text in the editor below it:

221B Baker Street
London NW1 6XE

There's no Save button: HandyPaste saves as you type.

Want something to try right away?

In an empty library, click Add Examples. You get a folder of ready-made snippets: an email sign-off, today's date, meeting notes, a proofreading prompt and a quick reply with a choice list. Delete them whenever you like.

You can also save text you've selected in any app, without opening the library: select it and press ⌥⌘C. See Saving text from any app.

4. Paste it anywhere

1. Click into any text field: an email in Mail, a message in Slack, a form in Safari.
2. Press ⌥⌘V. The picker opens in the middle of the screen.
3. Type home. Home Address is selected.
4. Press Return.

The picker closes and the address appears where your caret was. That's the whole idea: ⌥⌘V, a few letters, Return.

5. Make it fill itself in

Snippets can contain placeholders that HandyPaste fills in when you paste. Try this one: create a snippet called Meeting Notes with this text.

Snippet

Meeting notes — {{date:full}}

Attendees: {{cursor}}

Next steps:

Pastes

Meeting notes — Friday, 25 September 2026

Attendees: |

Next steps:

{{date:full}} becomes today's date, and {{cursor}} is where your caret ends up (shown as |), so you can start typing the names right away.

Try editing it below. This playground uses the same rules as the app:

Try it: edit the snippetMeeting notes — {{date:full}} Attendees: {{cursor}} Decisions: Next check-in: {{date+1w:EEEE, d MMMM}}

What gets pasted

Meeting notes — Friday, September 25, 2026 Attendees: Decisions: Next check-in: Friday, 2 October

The two shortcuts to remember

Shortcut	What it does
⌥⌘V	Open the picker and paste a snippet
⌥⌘C	Save the selected text as a snippet

Think of them as ⌘V and ⌘C with ⌥ Option added. You can change both; see Keyboard shortcuts.

Where to go next

• Snippet examples: ready-to-copy snippets for support, sales, developers and AI prompts.
• The picker: keywords, favorites, preview and every key it understands.
• Placeholder reference: everything a snippet can fill in.
• Questions and forms: ask for a name, pick from a list, fill in a whole web form.
• Moving from the Chrome extension: bring your snippets with you.