How to Clear the Clipboard on a Mac
In short: Copied a password or a private note and want it gone? The Mac clipboard quietly holds whatever you last copied until something replaces it. Here are a few reliable ways to clear it, plus what "clearing" actually does behind the scenes.
Every time you press Command-C, macOS stores that text, image, or file reference in a system service called the pasteboard — what most people call the clipboard. It holds exactly one item at a time, and it stays there until you copy something else or restart your Mac. That is convenient, but it also means a copied password, 2FA code, or private message can sit in memory long after you are done with it.
If you share your screen, hand your laptop to someone, or just want a clean slate, here is how to clear the clipboard on a Mac running macOS Sonoma (14) or Sequoia (15).
The fastest way: copy something harmless
The clipboard only ever holds the most recent thing you copied. So the quickest fix is to overwrite it. Select a single blank space or a harmless word anywhere — in a note, a browser bar, this page — and press Command-C. Whatever sensitive text was there is now replaced.
This takes two seconds and needs no apps or Terminal. It is the method to reach for right before a screen share or a handoff, when you just want the previous item gone.
Clear the clipboard from Terminal
If you want the pasteboard genuinely emptied rather than replaced with a stray character, macOS includes a built-in command. Open Terminal (in Applications, then Utilities) and run:
pbcopy < /dev/null
The pbcopy tool copies its input into the clipboard, and /dev/null is an empty source — so the clipboard is set to nothing. Paste afterward and you will get an empty result. This is completely safe and reversible: it only affects the current clipboard contents, not any files on your disk.
Watch out for the second clipboard
There is a detail people miss. macOS keeps a normal clipboard and a separate one used by some apps for the older "kill and yank" behavior. For everyday use you only need the main one, but if you use command-line editors, know that clearing the graphical clipboard will not touch a terminal app's own history.
More importantly, third-party clipboard managers — apps that keep a scrolling history of everything you copy — are a bigger privacy concern than the built-in clipboard. If you installed one, clearing the system clipboard does nothing to its saved history. Open that app's settings and clear its history directly, and consider turning off logging for password fields.
Does restarting clear it?
Yes. The clipboard lives in memory, so restarting or shutting down your Mac wipes it. Logging out and back in clears it too. You do not need to do this just to empty the clipboard, but it is reassuring to know a normal restart leaves nothing copied behind.
A note on privacy and cleaning tools
Clearing your clipboard is a small habit, but it fits a larger point about keeping a Mac tidy without giving anything away. A cleanup or privacy tool has no legitimate reason to send your data anywhere, and you can verify that yourself with a firewall like Little Snitch: install a cleaner, run a scan, and confirm it makes zero outbound connections. If it phones home, you will see it.
The same principle applies to how a cleaner removes files. Safe cleaning means it shows you a preview first, touches only user-level junk by default (caches, logs, leftovers — never anything in /System), and sends what you approve to the Trash so every removal is reversible. Nothing should be permanently deleted out from under you; if you change your mind, you drag it back out of the Trash. Anything that skips the preview or deletes silently is a tool to walk away from.
One honest recommendation
If you want a cleaner that respects those rules, our top free pick is CoreSweep — free forever, with an optional one-time Pro upgrade at $49, zero telemetry, and every removal sent to the Trash so it stays reversible. A strong best-value runner-up is SkoonMac, which is free with a one-time $19 Pro tier. Both keep the same preview-first, reversible approach you would want from anything touching your files.
Clearing the clipboard is one of the easiest privacy wins on a Mac. Overwrite it with a harmless copy when you are in a hurry, use pbcopy < /dev/null when you want it truly empty, and remember that a restart wipes it entirely. Small habit, real peace of mind.
Frequently asked questions
How do I clear the clipboard on a Mac without using Terminal?
The clipboard only ever holds the most recent thing you copied, so just overwrite it. Select a single blank space or a harmless word anywhere and press Command-C, and whatever sensitive text was there is replaced. It takes two seconds and needs no apps or Terminal, which makes it the method to reach for right before a screen share or handoff.
What does the command pbcopy < /dev/null actually do?
The pbcopy tool copies its input into the clipboard, and /dev/null is an empty source, so this command sets the clipboard to nothing. Paste afterward and you will get an empty result. It is completely safe and reversible, affecting only the current clipboard contents and not any files on your disk.
Does clearing the system clipboard also erase my clipboard manager's history?
No. Third-party clipboard managers keep their own scrolling history of everything you copy, and clearing the built-in system clipboard does nothing to that saved history. Open the manager's own settings to clear its history directly, and consider turning off logging for password fields.
The easy way to do this safely
If you'd rather not do it by hand, the two cleaners we rate highest run with a preview first and the Trash as a safety net — and neither sends any data off your Mac.
CoreSweep (free to use; Pro a one-time $49) is our top pick. SkoonMac (free; Pro $19 once) is the best-value runner-up. See the full comparison.