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MalibuClip Help
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Getting startedPaste something you copied earlierTake a screenshot and mark it upRecord your screenExport a recordingKeep numbered clipboard slots and paste them on demandStop sensitive content from being recordedReferenceTroubleshooting

Getting started

What MalibuClip does

MalibuClip is a menu bar app for the Mac. It records what you copy and keeps Final Cut Pro clipboard content with its formats intact. It also takes screenshots, lets you mark them up, and records the screen.

Before you start

You need macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with Apple Silicon. When you open MalibuClip for the first time it asks for your email address and then starts a trial. It also asks for the Accessibility permission, which MalibuClip needs to paste into other apps. Allow it in the system dialog.

By default MalibuClip registers itself to open at login. You can switch that off with Launch at Login in Settings.

Your first paste from the history

  1. In any app, select some text and copy it with ⌘C.
  2. Press ⌘⇧V (Command, Shift and V). The clipboard panel opens with the search field ready. The newest clips are at the top.
  3. Click the clip. The panel closes and the text is pasted into the app that was in front.

If the shortcut does nothing, click the MalibuClip icon in the menu bar and then the open button in the popover header (tooltip Show Clipboard).

Where to go next

The menu bar icon opens a popover with an icon bar for screenshots, recordings and the two galleries, and four tabs of quick switches. Shortcuts for captures and recordings stay unassigned until you assign them in Settings, under Screenshots and Recording (Beta). The guides cover pasting and filtering the history, taking and marking up screenshots, recording and exporting the screen, the FCP Buffer, and keeping apps out of the history. The reference lists the settings with their defaults.

Paste something you copied earlier

Open the history

MalibuClip records what you copy. Open the list of recorded clips with one of these:

  1. Click the menu bar icon and then the open button in the popover header (tooltip Show Clipboard).
  2. Or press the global shortcut. ⌘⇧V is assigned by default.

Press the shortcut again to close the panel. Esc closes it too while the panel has the keyboard focus; if a preview is open, the first Esc closes only the preview.

To change the shortcut, open Settings (footer of the popover in the menu bar) › General, click the Keyboard Shortcut field and press a new combination (it must include ⌘, ⌃ or ⌥). The arrow button next to it restores ⌘⇧V.

The panel has three tabs: Clipboard, Screenshots and FCP Buffer. This page covers Clipboard. You can also switch tabs by swiping two fingers sideways on the trackpad, or with a mouse that has a side scroll wheel. Swiping left shows the next tab, swiping right the previous one, and at the first or last tab nothing happens. Over the row of filter chips the sideways scroll moves the chips instead. If Enable Notch Shelf is on (it is off by default), Show Clipboard and the shortcut open the notch shelf instead of this panel. Auto-reveal on right edge hover (off by default) still opens this panel.

Find a clip

The search field has focus when the panel opens. Type to narrow the list: a clip matches when its text or the name of the app it came from contains your text (case is ignored). Only the first 10,000 characters of a clip's text are searched. Search and filter are cleared each time the panel opens, and they only cover the 500 most recent clips.

The chips under the search field filter by kind:

  • All is always shown. Images and Links can be hidden in Settings › Filters.
  • FCP appears only while Show Final Cut Pro filter is on and the 500 loaded clips include Final Cut Pro content.
  • One chip per saved app, then recently used apps. The recent apps are taken from the 200 newest clips, at most eight, and apps that already have a saved chip are not repeated, so fewer than eight can appear. Click the chip of a recent app with the right mouse button and choose Save Filter to keep it. Click a saved chip with the right mouse button and choose Remove Filter.

Click a chip to filter, click it again to switch it off. A chip and a search work together.

In Settings › Filters, the toggles Show Images filter, Show Links filter, Show Final Cut Pro filter and Show recent apps in filter bar are all on by default. The same tab lists your saved app filters, each with a remove button.

Paste a clip

MalibuClip pastes into the app that was in front when you opened the panel. When the permission it needs to send the paste is missing, the panel shows the banner "Accessibility permission required for paste" with an Open Settings button.

  1. Click a clip. By default a single click pastes it.
  2. Or move with the up and down arrow keys and press Return to paste the highlighted clip.
  3. The panel closes after the paste. To keep it open, turn off both Close after pasting and Close when clicking outside (both on by default) in Settings › General: pasting brings the target app forward, and with Close when clicking outside on the panel hides as soon as it loses focus. A panel that was opened by Auto-reveal on right edge hover always closes when it loses focus or the pointer leaves it, whatever these switches say. While the target app is in front, Esc and the arrow keys go to that app until you click the panel.

To select a clip with a click without pasting, turn on Double-click to paste (off by default) in the same tab. Then a single click only highlights the clip and a double click pastes it.

Click a clip with the right mouse button for more:

  • Paste, Paste as Plain Text and Copy to Clipboard. Paste as Plain Text pastes only the clip's text, limited to its first 10,000 characters.
  • Edit… for text clips; Annotate and Show in Finder for clips that have an image or a preview picture.
  • Assign to FCP Buffer Slot, which has its own page.
  • Pin or Unpin, and Delete.

While the search field is empty, press Space to preview the clip under the pointer or, if there is none, the highlighted clip.

To drop a clip into another app instead, drag its row onto that app's window. The drop is a copy and only works toward other apps. An image clip is also written as a temporary image file, so drop targets that require a file accept it.

If no app was remembered when you opened the panel, the paste goes to whichever other app is in front at that moment. If MalibuClip itself is in front, nothing is pasted and the clip stays on the clipboard.

Pin a clip

Hover a clip and click the pin icon, or click it with the right mouse button and choose Pin. Choose Unpin to undo it. A pinned clip keeps a filled pin icon.

A pin protects a clip from the automatic cleanup: Auto-Delete After and the Storage Limit skip pinned clips. A pin does not move the clip to the top of the list.

Edit a text clip

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  1. Click a clip with the right mouse button and choose Edit…. The entry is offered only for text clips, not for images, Final Cut Pro content, file copies or videos.
  2. Change the text in the "Edit Clip" window. Return inserts a new line.
  3. Click Save or press ⌘S. Cancel closes the window; if you changed the text you are asked before it is discarded.

Saving replaces all stored formats of the clip with one plain text version, so rich text and HTML formatting are gone (for a clip with such formatting the window warns "Saving removes formatting" before you save). A link title and image saved with the clip are dropped. The clip keeps its place in the list and its pin.

Add text to what you copied

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  1. Copy some text as usual.
  2. Select more text, hold ⌘ and tap C twice.

The second text is added below the first one, separated by a new line. You hear a short sound, the combined text is on the clipboard ready to paste, and it appears as one new clip in the history. Tap ⌘C twice on a third piece to add that as well. Only text is added: if the copy also holds an image, a file or Final Cut Pro content, it is copied normally. A second tap that comes too late, or without ⌘ held, is also an ordinary copy. Switch the feature or the sound off under Settings (tab General) with Double-tap ⌘C appends text and Play a sound when appending.

Take a screenshot and mark it up

Allow Screen Recording

Every capture mode needs permission to record the screen. Without it, no capture starts. MalibuClip shows the alert "Screen Recording Permission Required" instead, with an Open System Settings button.

  1. Click Open System Settings.
  2. In System Settings, under Privacy & Security, enable MalibuClip for screen recording. The name of that pane differs between macOS versions.
  3. Relaunch MalibuClip if the capture still does not start.

Choose a capture mode

Click the MalibuClip icon in the menu bar, then the screenshot icon in the popover (tooltip Screenshot). That starts Screenshot (Area). All other modes start with a global shortcut. No capture shortcut is assigned by default. Assign each one in Settings, on the Screenshots tab, in the Shortcuts section. An assigned shortcut also shows in the tooltip of the screenshot icon.

  • Screenshot (Area): drag a rectangle. With the toolbar off (the default), the capture happens when you release the mouse button. A very small rectangle cancels instead.
  • Screenshot (Area, with Toolbar): the rectangle stays on screen so you can move or resize it. A toolbar lets you switch the mode or arm a Timer (3, 5 or 10 seconds). Click inside the selection or click the confirm button (it reads Capture) to capture. If All-in-One Starts With the Last Area is on (the default) and you made a selection before, the overlay opens with that selection already in place.
  • Screenshot (Window): click a window. You cannot select MalibuClip's own windows, windows that are not on screen or not on the normal window layer, windows 100 points or less in width or height, and windows the size of a display (within 2 points). Use Screenshot (Full Screen) for the last kind.
  • Screenshot (Full Screen): no overlay. With one display it captures at once. With several displays, a small menu asks which one.
  • Capture Last Area Again: no overlay. It grabs the area of your most recent area screenshot at once, without you drawing it again. If there has been none since MalibuClip started, it opens a normal area selection.
  • Capture Text and Capture Scrolling Page: see the next two sections.

Show All-in-One Toolbar After Dragging in the Selection Tool section is off by default. When it is on, every selection waits for confirmation. After you drag a rectangle, the selection stays and the toolbar appears. For a window, the first click selects it and a second click on the same window captures.

Press Esc to cancel a capture before it happens. While a Timer countdown runs, the first Esc only stops the countdown and returns to the selection. A second Esc closes the overlay.

Capture text from the screen

  1. Use the shortcut of Capture Text. It has no default shortcut, so assign one in Settings.
  2. Drag a rectangle around the text.
  3. The recognized text is copied to the clipboard as plain text and the clipboard history records it like any other copy. No image is saved to Screenshots.

If no text is recognized, nothing happens and the clipboard stays as it was. There is no message.

Capture a scrolling page

  1. Choose Capture Scrolling Page and drag a rectangle over the area that scrolls.
  2. A small panel with a live preview appears. Scroll the content yourself. The panel counts the slices it has captured.
  3. Click Done to stitch the slices into one image. The cross button cancels.

Instead of scrolling yourself, click one of the two arrow buttons in the panel before you scroll for the first time. Their tooltips read Auto-Scroll Down and Auto-Scroll Right. MalibuClip then scrolls for you. This needs the Accessibility permission, and some apps and websites ignore the scroll events it sends. If the very first automatic scroll gives no recognizable match, this area flow ends the capture without an image and without a message. If the content does not move, the panel stays open with the message "No scrolling was detected" and a Dismiss button.

Capture Scrolling Page (Window, Automatic) works on a whole window you click. With Start with Auto-Scroll Pre-Selected on (the default) it starts scrolling at once. If the very first automatic scroll gives no recognizable match, only this flow offers to scroll manually instead. If the content does not move at all, the panel shows the message "No scrolling was detected" with Dismiss.

A capture stops at 60 slices. A manual capture does not end by itself, so click Done. A capture also ends at 60 slices or when MalibuClip loses track of the content several times in a row. If MalibuClip loses track of the content after more than one slice was captured, it still delivers what it has, without any message. If it loses track before a second slice, or you click Done without having scrolled, nothing is delivered. The panel stays open with a message and a Dismiss button.

What happens after a capture

Every screenshot is copied to the clipboard as a PNG and filed in the Screenshots list. The editor does not open on its own.

  • To edit it at once, press Space while the hint "Press Space to Edit" is on screen. The hint disappears after 1.6 seconds.
  • To edit it later, click the Screenshots icon in the popover and then the screenshot. Click a screenshot with the right mouse button for Copy, Quick Look, Edit, Extract Text, Show in Finder and Delete.

Also Save Screenshots to a Folder writes every new capture to a PNG file as well. It is off by default. Turn it on in Settings, tab Screenshots, section Save Location, then click Choose Folder… If you do not choose one, the folder is ~/Pictures/MalibuClip Screenshots. The file is written when the capture is made. Saving an annotated version later with Save only updates the entry in the Screenshots list. It does not write a second file.

Mark up a screenshot

The editor toolbar has one icon per tool, in this order: Select, Pen, Freehand, Highlighter, Mark Area, Arrow, Rectangle, Filled Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, Eraser, Text, Numbered Step, Label, Mosaic, Blur, Blackout and Spotlight. Hover an icon for a short description. Mosaic, Blur and Blackout hide content. Spotlight dims everything outside the selected area.

  1. Pick a tool and drag on the image. The color swatch opens preset colors, a custom color, an eyedropper and a hex field. The slider changes line width, font size, the size of numbered steps, or the strength of Mosaic and Blur, depending on the tool.
  2. Click Crop, drag the rectangle, then click Apply. Reset and Cancel are next to it.
  3. Click the sparkles button for Beautify and turn on Enable Beautify. It adds a background, Spacing, Corner Radius, a Shadow and an Aspect Ratio. The drawing tools are locked while the Beautify panel is open.
  4. Click Save to update the screenshot in the Screenshots list, or Copy to put the finished image on the clipboard. Drag Me drags the finished image into another app.
  5. Click Done to close the editor. Done does not save. Click Save or Copy first.

Click an annotated screenshot in the list with the right mouse button and choose Reset to Original to go back to the unmarked capture.

Use ⇧⌘3, ⇧⌘4 and ⇧⌘5 for MalibuClip

This is optional and off by default.

  1. Open Settings, tab Screenshots, section Replace macOS Screenshot Shortcuts.
  2. Click Take Over ⇧⌘3 / ⇧⌘4 / ⇧⌘5 and confirm with Take Over.
  3. MalibuClip assigns ⇧⌘3 to Screenshot (Full Screen), ⇧⌘4 to Screenshot (Area) and ⇧⌘5 to Screenshot (Area, with Toolbar), replacing whatever those three actions had.
  4. Click Open System Settings in the alert that follows and turn off macOS's own ⇧⌘3, ⇧⌘4 and ⇧⌘5 under Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Screenshots. MalibuClip does not switch them off, and while they stay on, both tools can fire together.

To undo, click the reset arrow next to each of the three shortcuts in the Shortcuts section. The shortcut goes back to "Not Assigned".

Record your screen

Start and stop a recording

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Recording needs macOS 26.0 or later on a Mac with Apple Silicon, and the Screen Recording permission for MalibuClip.

  1. Click the MalibuClip icon in the menu bar and then the record icon in the popover (tooltip Record Area).
  2. For a window or a whole display, use the shortcut of Record Window or Record Screen instead. Those two have no icon in the popover.
  3. For an area, drag a rectangle. Recording starts when you release the mouse button. For a window, click the window. With one display, Record Screen starts at once. With several displays, a small menu asks which display to record.
  4. A small panel shows the elapsed time. Click the pause button to pause and resume, or the stop button to finish.

While a recording runs, the record icon in the popover becomes Stop Recording.

That is how it works while Show All-in-One Toolbar After Dragging is off, which is the default (Screenshots tab in Settings, under Selection Tool). With it on, the selection stays after you drag it and a toolbar appears. Click the selection to confirm, and the recording starts then (an optional timer delays it). For a window, the first click selects it and a second click on the same window confirms.

The record and stop actions have no default shortcut. Assign one in Settings on the Recording (Beta) tab, under Shortcuts.

Find your recordings

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Finished recordings are saved as .mov files in ~/Movies/MalibuClip, named after the start time, for example 2026-07-18_14-32-10.mov. Click the Recordings icon in the popover to open the Recordings window, or click Open Folder under Storage on the Recording (Beta) tab.

Data for each recording (cursor data, zooms, look, camera movie) is kept in a hidden .metadata folder inside ~/Movies/MalibuClip. In Finder you see only your movies and your exports.

Choose what is recorded

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

The Recording (Beta) tab in Settings is marked Beta in the app. Its audio and camera switches are read when a recording starts, so they apply to the next recording.

  • Record System Audio: off by default.
  • Record Microphone: off by default. When you turn it on, macOS asks for the Microphone permission. Choose the device under Microphone; the default is System Default.
  • Record Camera: off by default. When you turn it on, macOS asks for the Camera permission. Choose the device under Camera. The camera is saved as a separate movie.

If you turn a switch on while macOS has the permission turned off, the switch stays off and a hint with Open System Settings appears. The button opens System Settings at the matching Privacy & Security section. If the permission is withdrawn after you turned the switch on, the switch stays on and the hint appears.

When a recording starts, a missing source does not stop it. If the chosen device is not connected, the system default device is used instead and a notice says so. If no device is available, or the permission is off, that source is left out. The screen is still recorded, and the recording panel shows a warning symbol with the reason. If starting fails for another reason, nothing is recorded. If the recording stream fails while a recording runs, the recording is stopped.

The microphone is recorded as its own audio track in the recording.

Record without the cursor (Studio Mode)

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Turn on Studio Mode under Cursor on the Recording (Beta) tab. It is off by default and applies to recordings you start afterwards.

With Studio Mode the cursor is not recorded into the picture. Its path is kept, and the recording editor draws the cursor in Export Video and Export GIF, smoothed and resized. The Final Cut Pro export has no cursor for such a recording.

In the editor, Show cursor appears only for a Studio Mode recording, and it is disabled when the recording has no cursor data. Cursor Size and Smoothing appear while Show cursor is on. For any other recording the cursor is part of the picture and cannot be styled.

Zoom to the clicks (Auto-Zoom)

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Auto-Zoom plans zooms from the clicks MalibuClip stores while it records. Not every click gets its own zoom. A click that comes while a zoom is still running, or just after it, gets none (a zoom lasts a couple of seconds). Clicks outside the recorded picture, for example on another display, do not zoom.

Auto-Zoom needs the recording's cursor data. Recordings made with MalibuClip 1.x have none. The same applies when the cursor data file is missing. The Auto-Zoom buttons are disabled for them.

  1. In the Recordings window, click a recording with the right mouse button and choose Open in Editor…. The window is titled Edit Recording.
  2. When you open it, the editor plans the zooms first if none have been stored for the recording yet and it has cursor data. If the zooms were all deleted, or Auto-Zoom found no clicks, the list stays empty and says there are no zooms yet.
  3. Click Auto-Zoom to replace all zooms with a fresh plan; ⌘Z takes it back. The button is available when the recording has cursor data and no export or Auto-Zoom is running.
  4. Click a bar on the timeline to select a zoom. Drag the bar to move it, drag an edge to trim it. In the panel on the right you can set Zoom, Zoom In, Zoom Out and Easing, and the target with Pick in Preview. Delete Zoom removes it.
  5. To add a zoom, move the playhead to a spot without a zoom and click Add Zoom. The zoom aims at the cursor position at that moment. It aims at the middle of the picture when that position is unknown: the recording has no cursor data, its recording_info.json is missing, or the recorded size is zero. You can add zooms by hand to a recording without cursor data.
  6. Clear Show Zoom to see the whole picture in the preview.

A zoom edit is saved to the recording when the drag or slider move ends. ⌘Z and ⇧⌘Z undo and redo zoom edits, up to 100 steps.

Style the recording (Look)

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

The Look section in the panel on the right of the editor styles the exported picture:

  • Background: choose None, Color, Gradient or Image. With Image, click Choose… and pick a picture. MalibuClip copies it next to the recording's data.
  • Padding, Corner Radius and Shadow: shown once a background other than None is selected.
  • Highlight clicks: shows a ripple where you clicked. It is off by default and needs a recording with cursor data.

The look applies to Export Video and Export GIF. It is not applied to Export to Final Cut Pro.

Switches and pickers in Look are saved to the recording at once, and sliders when you release them. Look changes are not part of undo. ⌘Z does not take them back, so set them back by hand.

Export a recording

Export a finished video

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  1. In the Recordings window, click the recording with the right mouse button and choose Quick Export. In the recording editor, click Export Video instead; it first saves the zooms the editor shows and then exports like Quick Export.
  2. Wait for the progress to finish. The finished .mp4 is shown in Finder.

The file is named <recording> Quick Export.mp4 and sits next to the recording; exporting again replaces it. The export uses the zooms stored for the recording. Auto-Zoom runs first only when no zooms have been stored yet (nothing planned or edited) and the recording has cursor data. A stored empty list (all zooms deleted, or Auto-Zoom found no clicks) stays empty: the export has no zoom and, for a recording with cursor data, warns Exported without zoom: this recording has no zooms. It also contains the look from the editor and the camera as picture in picture when you recorded one. When the recording has more than one audio track (system audio and microphone), they are mixed into one track; if the mix fails, both tracks are kept and a warning says so.

With Quick Export, a recording that has no stored zooms and no cursor data exports without zoom and warns that it has no cursor data. Export Video in the editor saves the editor's current zooms first (an empty list if there are none), so it exports without zoom and without that warning. Zooms you added by hand are used even without cursor data. A line under the recording says Exported <file name>; hover over it to read warnings.

The exported file is yours: deleting the recording does not delete it.

Export a GIF

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  1. Optional: in Settings on the Recording (Beta) tab, under GIF Export, set Frame Rate (8, 12 or 15 fps; default 12 fps) and Width (480, 720 or 960 px; default 720 px).
  2. Click the recording with the right mouse button in the Recordings window and choose Export GIF, or click Export GIF in the recording editor.
  3. Wait for the Making GIF progress to finish. The .gif is shown in Finder.

The GIF is named <recording>.gif, sits next to the recording and is replaced by a new export. It shows the picture as Quick Export would: zooms, look and camera picture in picture. A GIF has no audio.

GIFs are limited to 72 seconds. A recording that would exceed 360 frames at the chosen frame rate is exported at a lower rate, down to 5 fps, and the export reports the lowered rate. A recording longer than 72 seconds is refused with the message that it is too long for a GIF; use Quick Export for it.

Export to Final Cut Pro

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  1. Click the recording with the right mouse button in the Recordings window and choose Export to Final Cut Pro, or click Export to Final Cut Pro in the recording editor.
  2. Wait for the export to finish. The .fcpxml file is shown in Finder.
  3. Open the .fcpxml file in Final Cut Pro. The timeline names its event MalibuClip.

The export writes a folder <recording> Final Cut Pro next to the recording. A new export replaces it, and it stays when you delete the recording. It holds:

  • <recording>.fcpxml: the timeline, in the recording's pixel size at 29.97 fps.
  • <recording>.mov: a copy of the recording that the timeline links to.
  • <recording> Camera.mov: the camera movie, only if the recording has one. It is placed on the timeline as picture in picture.

The zooms are written as keyframes. The timeline gets a zoom clip whenever zooms are stored for the recording, including zooms you added by hand. Auto-Zoom runs first only when no zooms have been stored yet and the recording has cursor data; a stored empty list gives no zoom clip. From the editor, the zooms it shows are saved first.

Two limits:

  • The look from the editor (background, padding, corners, shadow, click highlight) is not applied; the picture goes to Final Cut Pro untouched.
  • A Studio Mode recording has no cursor in its picture, so the timeline shows none.

Add captions to the Final Cut Pro export

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Captions are an option of the Final Cut Pro export only; Quick Export and GIF have none.

  1. Turn on Captions under Final Cut Pro Export in Settings on the Recording (Beta) tab. The same switch is at the bottom of the right panel of the recording editor.
  2. When macOS asks, allow Speech Recognition. The switch is off by default and is requested when you turn it on, not at export time.
  3. Choose the spoken language under Language: English (US), English (UK), Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano or Português (BR). Until you choose one, the language closest to your system language is used.
  4. Run Export to Final Cut Pro.

If you turn the switch on while the permission is denied, it stays off and a hint with Open System Settings appears. If the permission is withdrawn after you turned it on, the switch stays on and the hint appears. If the recording has no audio, or transcription fails, the timeline is still written, without captions, and a warning says why.

Keep numbered clipboard slots and paste them on demand

Open the FCP Buffer tab

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

The FCP Buffer is a set of numbered slots. A slot keeps what a copy put on the clipboard (text, images, Final Cut Pro clips), and you paste it later without copying again. For files copied in Finder, a slot keeps only the file reference, not the file content.

  1. Click the open button in the header of the menu bar popover (tooltip Show Clipboard), or press its shortcut (default ⌘⇧V).
  2. Click the third tab, FCP Buffer.

The tab lists slots 1 to 5 and every slot that holds content. Click the N more empty slots row at the bottom to show all slots; click it again (Show fewer slots) to collapse.

There are 10 slots by default. Change the number (1 to 20) in Settings (footer of the menu bar popover) › FCP Buffer › Slots. Lowering the number hides slots but keeps their content.

If Enable Notch Shelf is on (it is off by default), Show Clipboard and its shortcut open the notch shelf instead of the history panel, and the shelf has no FCP Buffer tab. You then reach the tab with Auto-reveal on right edge hover (Settings › General, off by default), which still opens the history panel, or by turning the shelf off.

Fill a slot

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Pick one of these ways:

  1. From the history: click a clip in the Clipboard tab with the right mouse button, choose Assign to FCP Buffer Slot, then pick the slot. Slots that already hold something are marked (replace). A Final Cut Pro clip name becomes the slot's label if the slot has none yet. This path copies the history item as it is and runs no check for sensitive content of its own.
  2. From what is on the clipboard now: in the FCP Buffer tab, hover an empty slot and click Save Clipboard. For a filled slot, click it with the right mouse button and choose Replace with Current Clipboard.
  3. From a selection in another app, with a URL: see the URL section below. There is no keyboard shortcut for saving; only pasting can have one.

A save keeps the label and the picture a slot already had. When you save from the clipboard or from a selection, items that a password manager marked as sensitive are skipped. If nothing else is left, the save fails with a message; if other items are left, they are stored without any hint.

Paste a slot

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  • In the panel: click a slot, or click it with the right mouse button and use the first entry (Paste Slot N). The paste goes to the frontmost app other than MalibuClip; only when MalibuClip itself is in front does it fall back to the app the panel was opened over. The panel closes if Close after pasting is on (on by default). The slot is pasted with all its stored formats; your previous clipboard content is put back afterwards.
  • With a shortcut: in Settings › FCP Buffer › Shortcuts, click the button next to a slot's Paste label and press a key combination. The × button next to it removes the shortcut. Slots have no shortcut by default.
  • Preset: click Use ⌃⌥ Number Preset to assign ⌃⌥1 to ⌃⌥9 to slots 1 to 9 and ⌃⌥0 to slot 10. Clear All removes every slot shortcut.

A button reading In use means macOS did not register that combination (another shortcut already owns it). Shortcuts of slots above the current slot count are not active.

Automatic pasting needs Accessibility access for MalibuClip (Grant… in Remote Control). The app checks this before it tries to paste. Without it, the slot stays on the clipboard and the app asks you to press ⌘V yourself. The request shows as a status banner in the FCP Buffer tab, with a beep. The panel may already be closed by Close after pasting. With a shortcut or URL and the tab closed, you only hear the beep.

With Accessibility granted, a shortcut or URL pastes into the frontmost app. While MalibuClip itself is in front, they report "No app in front to paste into" (banner in the tab, plus a beep).

Rename a slot, set a picture, clear a slot

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Click a filled slot in the FCP Buffer tab with the right mouse button:

  • Rename… edits the label. Press Return to keep it; an empty label removes it.
  • Paste Picture from Clipboard uses a picture currently on the clipboard as the slot's thumbnail. Hovering a slot and pressing ⌘V does the same. Choose Picture… picks an image file; dropping an image onto the slot works too. Remove Picture deletes it; it is listed only for a slot that has a picture you set. The picture only changes the thumbnail, not what is pasted.
  • Clear Slot empties the slot immediately, without a confirmation.

Share slots with someone else

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

A slot or the whole buffer can go to another Mac as one file with the ending .malibuclipbuffer. The file keeps every format of the content, so a Final Cut Pro clip arrives unchanged, together with the label and the picture of the slot.

To send:

  1. Click a filled slot in the FCP Buffer tab with the right mouse button and choose Export Slot…. For the whole buffer use the export icon above the slots (tooltip Export all slots…).
  2. Choose where to save the file.
  3. Send the file by AirDrop, mail or chat.

To take slots over, double click the file in Finder, or use the import icon above the slots (tooltip Import buffer file…). The window Import into FCP Buffer lists the slots of the file. Tick the ones you want and pick a target slot for each. A target that already holds content is marked in use, and MalibuClip asks before it replaces it. Two slots cannot go to the same target, and the targets are limited to the number of slots set in Settings. The app must be unlocked for the import to open.

The folder icon above the slots (tooltip Show buffer folder in Finder) opens the buffer folder, and Show in Finder in the slot menu opens the folder of one slot. The folder is only for looking. MalibuClip does not read changes made there.

Control the buffer with URLs

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

MalibuClip answers URLs of the form malibuclip://buffer/<action>?slot=N. Slot numbers start at 1. Open them in the background so your current app keeps focus:

open -g "malibuclip://buffer/restore?slot=1"

  • save copies the current selection of the frontmost app (it sends ⌘C to it) into the slot, and puts your previous clipboard back. It does not save what is already on the clipboard. It needs Accessibility access; with MalibuClip itself in front it reports "No app in front to copy from."
  • restore pastes the slot into the frontmost app, as described above.
  • clear empties the slot.

A URL never opens a window. An unknown action, a missing slot, a slot that is not a number, a slot above 20, or a slot above the configured slot count gives an error message. It shows as a status banner in the FCP Buffer tab, disappears about 8 seconds after it is shown there, and comes with a beep. With the tab closed you only hear the beep, and the message waits there until you open the tab.

While the app's license check blocks it, valid buffer URLs are ignored without any message (they are only logged). A malformed URL still gets the error and the beep.

Limits

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

  • Slots are stored unencrypted as plain files in ~/Library/Application Support/MalibuClip/PasteboardBuffer/. The file manifest.json there also holds each slot's label and the first 200 characters of its text. Show Buffer Folder in Finder opens the folder. The clipboard history is a separate store.
  • A single piece of clipboard data larger than 50 MB is refused ("too large for a buffer slot"). A picture you add to a slot is converted to a PNG of at most 512 pixels; dropped files above 30 MB are ignored silently.
  • Content of slots above the current slot count stays on disk and returns when you raise the count. Clear All under Shortcuts removes shortcuts only, not slot content.
  • Only a paste and a save from a selection take the buffer's lock. While one runs, a second paste, Save Clipboard and Replace with Current Clipboard are answered with "The buffer is busy. Try again in a moment." Clearing, assigning from the history, renaming and picture changes do not check it.

Stop sensitive content from being recorded

Block an app

  1. Open Settings from the footer of the menu bar popover and click the Blocklist tab. The list is empty by default ("No blocked apps").
  2. Click Choose Application... and select an app. Its bundle identifier is added to the list.
  3. Or type a bundle identifier, for example com.apple.Safari, into the text field and click Add. The field wants the bundle identifier, not the app name, and the match is exact.
  4. To unblock an app, click the x button on its row.

From then on, a clipboard change is ignored while a blocked app is in front. The check looks at the app that is in front when MalibuClip notices the change, not at the app that wrote to the clipboard. MalibuClip checks the clipboard about twice per second.

Adding an app does not delete clips that are already recorded. See below.

Apps and types that are always ignored

These are built in. They do not appear in the Blocklist tab and cannot be switched off.

Clipboard changes are ignored while one of these apps is in front:

  • 1Password: com.agilebits.onepassword7, com.agilebits.onepassword8, com.1password.1password
  • LastPass: com.lastpass.LastPass
  • Bitwarden desktop app: com.bitwarden.desktop
  • Keychain Access: com.apple.keychainaccess

A clipboard item is also dropped as a whole, with all its formats including plain text, when it carries one of these pasteboard types:

  • org.nspasteboard.ConcealedType
  • com.apple.security.keychain-item
  • com.agilebits.onepassword

This is not a general password filter. A password manager or app that is not in the list above and does not use one of these types is recorded unless you add it to the Blocklist.

Remove clips that are already recorded

  • Open the history, click a clip with the right mouse button and choose Delete.

Deleting clips does not touch the Screenshots tab. A screenshot taken with MalibuClip is saved to Screenshots and copied to the clipboard without creating a clip. A clip is recorded only when the image is copied again by the Copy button of the annotation editor or by another tool. Copying it again from the Screenshots list does not create a clip. Deleting a clip does not delete the matching item in Screenshots, and the other way round.

Let old items expire

Both settings are in Settings › General, section Clipboard.

  • Auto-Delete After: default Never. Choices are 30, 60, 90, 180 and 365 Days. Clips older than the chosen age are deleted. Pinned clips are kept. Items in the Screenshots tab older than that are deleted as well. The setting takes effect immediately when you change it. Otherwise a pass runs at launch, once a day and after the Mac wakes, but only if the last pass was at least 24 hours ago. Files you saved to a folder on disk and recordings in ~/Movies/MalibuClip are not deleted by it.
  • Storage Limit: default Up to 10 GB. Other choices are 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB and 5 GB. When the store is over the limit, the oldest clips that contain an image or have a preview thumbnail are deleted first (this includes Final Cut Pro clips with a thumbnail), then the oldest clips of any kind. Pinned clips are kept. The check runs after about every 11th clip that is saved, not when you change the setting, and each pass deletes a limited number of clips, so a large reduction settles over several passes. Current Size shows the size of the clip store on disk (the database and its support folder), including Screenshots items, which this limit never deletes. FCP Buffer slots and recordings are not counted.

There is no limit by number of clips.

What is stored, and what is encrypted

MalibuClip keeps its history in a local database in the Application Support folder of your user account.

Newly recorded clips are encrypted at rest with AES-GCM, using a key held in the macOS Keychain (this Mac only, available while it is unlocked). Entries recorded before encryption was added are not converted. They stay as they were. What is encrypted:

  • the text of each clip (the searchable text)
  • the data of every stored format of each clip (text, images, files, Final Cut Pro data)
  • the recognized text (OCR) of screenshots

Not encrypted, for example:

  • the app name, app identifier, time and pin state of each clip, and cached details such as the Final Cut Pro clip count
  • the small preview image of image and Final Cut Pro clips (up to 200 pixels)
  • the clip name and duration shown for Final Cut Pro clips, the file name of copied files and the file path of copied video files
  • the link title and link image of a copied web address, fetched only while Download link previews is on (on by default); addresses on local or internal hosts are not fetched
  • a keyed hash of the first 500 characters of a clip's text, ignoring case, used to detect duplicates (it is not the text)
  • Screenshots tab items: the final image, the original image and the annotation data, plus capture kind, file name and time
  • recordings: plain movie files in ~/Movies/MalibuClip, and their database entries (file name, duration, size)
  • FCP Buffer slots: plain files in Application Support, by design

If the Keychain key cannot be read in a session (access denied, prompt cancelled), MalibuClip stores new clips unencrypted for that session and cannot read clips that were stored encrypted until access works again and MalibuClip is restarted. A new key is created only when the Keychain reports that none exists. The duplicate check against stored clips is skipped in that state.

Reference

Requirements

MalibuClip needs macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with Apple Silicon. It runs as a menu bar app without a Dock icon. The Dock icon appears only while a recording editor window is open.

On first launch it asks for an email address (Email Required) before anything else works. After that the app runs as a trial. The trial is set to 30 days. When MalibuClip may no longer be used, for example because the trial has ended or the license was revoked or could not be verified, a locked screen (MalibuClip Is Locked) replaces the popover content, and a global shortcut shows that screen instead of running its action. Buy MalibuClip opens a web page where you can buy MalibuClip.

Permissions

  • Screen Recording: needed for every screenshot mode and for Record Area, Record Window and Record Screen. Without it no capture starts and an alert offers Open System Settings.
  • Accessibility: requested at the first launch. It is used to paste into other apps (the clipboard panel shows a banner when it is missing), for the automatic scrolling of Capture Scrolling Page, and for the save and restore actions of the FCP Buffer.
  • Microphone and Camera: requested when you turn on Record Microphone or Record Camera, not at launch. If the answer is still open when a recording starts, macOS asks then. If macOS denies the access when you turn the switch on, it goes back to off.
  • Speech Recognition: requested when you turn on Captions, not at an export.

Menu bar popover

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Click the MalibuClip icon in the menu bar. The popover has an icon bar at the top, four tabs with switches, and Settings and a quit button in the footer.

The icon bar holds Screenshot (an area capture), Record Area (while a recording runs, Stop Recording replaces it), Screenshots and Recordings, which open the two galleries. While the Paste Stack holds items, Paste Next is added, with the number of entries on its icon. After them come Help, Send Feedback and, only while the license is not active, Buy MalibuClip, each as an icon. Help opens these help pages in the browser. An assigned global shortcut appears in the tooltip of the matching icon. The open button in the header shows the clipboard history (tooltip Show Clipboard). The footer starts with a Check for Updates icon (a circular arrow), followed by Settings and Quit. When a newer version is known, the icon turns into a filled download arrow with an accent outline and its tooltip names the version; a click starts the update.

The four tabs hold quick switches that change the same settings as Settings:

  • Record: System Audio, Microphone, Camera, Studio Mode.
  • Capture: Toolbar, Last Area, Auto-Scroll, Save to Folder.
  • Clipboard: No Duplicates, Link Previews, Close After Paste, Double-Click Paste.
  • App: Notch Shelf, Side Panel, Launch at Login, Close on Click Outside.

The other capture modes (window, full screen, last area again, text, scrolling) and Record Window and Record Screen have no icon. Use their global shortcuts, which you assign in Settings. You cannot empty the history from the popover. Use Auto-Delete After and Storage Limit in Settings, or delete clips in the history.

Global shortcuts

Of the actions below, only Show Clipboard has a default shortcut, ⌘⇧V. None of the others has one. Assign it in Settings.

  • Show Clipboard, in General (Keyboard Shortcut).
  • Screenshot (Area), Screenshot (Area, with Toolbar), Screenshot (Window), Screenshot (Full Screen), Capture Last Area Again, Capture Text, Capture Scrolling Page, Capture Scrolling Page (Window, Automatic), in Screenshots.
  • Record Area, Record Window, Record Screen, Stop Recording, in Recording (Beta).
  • One paste shortcut per FCP Buffer slot, in FCP Buffer.

A shortcut must include ⌘, ⌃ or ⌥. For these actions, a combination that macOS or another app has already taken is not reported. An FCP Buffer slot whose shortcut could not be registered shows In use instead of the shortcut.

Settings: General

The tabs of the Settings window are General, Filters, Blocklist, Notch Shelf, Screenshots, FCP Buffer, Recording (Beta) and About. General holds:

  • Storage Limit: Default: Up to 10 GB. Choices: 250 MB, 500 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 5 GB, Up to 10 GB. Current Size shows what the store uses now.
  • History Thumbnail Size: Default: L. Choices: S, M, L, XL. It sets how large image previews appear in the clipboard history; XL shows an image across the full width of the row. Saved screenshots and recordings are not changed.
  • Auto-Delete After: Default: Never. Choices: 30, 60, 90, 180 or 365 Days. Removes older history clips and older entries in the Screenshots list. Pinned clips are skipped. Files in a screenshot save folder and recordings are not deleted.
  • Reject duplicates: Default: on.
  • Download link previews: Default: on. Addresses that point to the local machine or a private network (as IP addresses or known internal host names) are not fetched.
  • Show full text (selectable): Default: on.
  • Double-tap ⌘C appends text: Default: on.
  • Play a sound when appending: Default: on.
  • Double-click to paste: Default: off.
  • Close after pasting: Default: on.
  • Close when clicking outside: Default: on.
  • Hide title bar: Default: on.
  • Show as right-side panel: Default: on.
  • Auto-reveal on right edge hover: Default: off. Turning it on also switches to the panel on the right.
  • Glass Darkness: Default: 45%, range 0% to 70%.
  • Launch at Login: Default: on. The app registers itself as a login item at launch while this is on.

Settings: Filters, Blocklist and Notch Shelf

  • Filters: Show Images filter, Show Links filter, Show Final Cut Pro filter and Show recent apps in filter bar, all on by default. Below them is the list of saved app filters.
  • Blocklist: Blocked Applications lists apps. A copy made while one of them is the frontmost app is not recorded. Add Application adds one. A list of password managers and Keychain Access that comes with the app, and the pasteboard types for concealed content, are always ignored. See the guide on keeping apps out of the history.
  • Notch Shelf: Enable Notch Shelf, off by default. When on, it replaces the clipboard panel. Show on Display chooses the display. The shelf has no FCP Buffer tab.

Settings: Screenshots

  • Shortcuts: the eight screenshot and capture actions listed above.
  • Replace macOS Screenshot Shortcuts: the button Take Over ⇧⌘3 / ⇧⌘4 / ⇧⌘5 assigns ⇧⌘3 to Full Screen, ⇧⌘4 to Area and ⇧⌘5 to Area with Toolbar, replacing any assignment those actions had. Turn off the macOS shortcuts in System Settings yourself.
  • Selection Tool: Show All-in-One Toolbar After Dragging, off by default. All-in-One Starts With the Last Area, on by default. Aspect Ratio snaps a new selection to a ratio or a pixel size.
  • Scrolling Page: Start with Auto-Scroll Pre-Selected, on by default. It applies to Capture Scrolling Page (Window, Automatic), including the scrolling window mode of the All-in-One toolbar.
  • Save Location: Also Save Screenshots to a Folder, off by default. When on, new screenshots are also written as PNG files to the folder shown in Folder. Until you choose another one with Choose Folder…, that is ~/Pictures/MalibuClip Screenshots.

Settings: FCP Buffer

  • Slots: the number of slots, default 10, range 1 to 20. Lowering the number hides slots but keeps their content.
  • Shortcuts: Use ⌃⌥ Number Preset assigns ⌃⌥ plus a number key to slots 1 to 10 (key 0 is slot 10). Clear All removes every slot shortcut. Each slot has one shortcut that pastes the slot. There is no shortcut that fills a slot.
  • Remote Control: the malibuclip://buffer/ URL scheme with the actions save, restore and clear.

See the guide on the FCP Buffer for the steps.

Settings: Recording (Beta)

The tab shows a BETA badge: Auto-Zoom, the editor, microphone and camera recording and the Final Cut Pro export are new.

  • Shortcuts: Record Area, Record Window, Record Screen, Stop Recording.
  • Studio Mode: off by default. Records without the cursor in the picture. The recording editor draws it in the video and GIF export. The Final Cut Pro export has no cursor then.
  • Record System Audio: off by default.
  • Record Microphone and Record Camera: off by default, each with a device picker (System Default or a named device) that appears while the switch is on.
  • Captions: off by default, with a language choice. Applies to the Final Cut Pro export.
  • GIF Export: Frame Rate: 8, 12 or 15 fps, default 12. Width: 480, 720 or 960 px, default 720.
  • Storage: Open Folder opens the recordings folder.

Settings: About

About shows the version and has Privacy and Terms of Use buttons, Redeem License… to enter a license key, and Switch Devices… to free this Mac's license activation so the key can be used on another Mac. Updates come through Sparkle. MalibuClip checks automatically once a day, and Check for Updates in the App tab of the popover starts a check by hand.

Where data is stored

  • Clipboard history and the Screenshots list: ~/Library/Application Support/MalibuClip.store.
  • Recordings: ~/Movies/MalibuClip. A hidden .metadata folder inside it holds one subfolder per recording (cursor data, zooms, look, the camera movie, a chosen background image).
  • FCP Buffer slots: ~/Library/Application Support/MalibuClip/PasteboardBuffer/, as plain, unencrypted files.
  • Screenshot copies: only when Also Save Screenshots to a Folder is on, in the folder shown in Folder.
  • Final Cut Pro export: a folder written next to the recording.

Limits

  • A single clip format larger than 50 MiB is not recorded.
  • The history list shows the 500 most recent clips. Search and filters work within those.
  • Capture Scrolling Page stops at 60 slices.
  • A GIF has at most 360 frames and at least 5 frames per second, so 72 seconds at most. Longer recordings are refused.
  • An FCP Buffer slot entry is limited to 50 MiB. The slot count is between 1 and 20.
  • Auto-Zoom needs cursor data, which recordings made with MalibuClip 2.x have and recordings made with 1.x do not.
  • The Look (background, padding, corners, shadow, click highlight, drawn cursor) is not applied in the Final Cut Pro export.

Troubleshooting

A capture does not start

Every screenshot mode and every screen recording needs the screen recording permission. Without it MalibuClip shows "Screen Recording Permission Required". Click Open System Settings and allow MalibuClip for screen recording under Privacy & Security. If the capture still does not start, relaunch MalibuClip.

A clip is not pasted into the other app

The panel shows "Accessibility permission required for paste" with an Open Settings button when MalibuClip may not send the paste. Allow MalibuClip under Privacy & Security, Accessibility. The clip is pasted into the app that was in front when you opened the panel. If MalibuClip itself is in front or no other app comes to the front in time, nothing is pasted and the clip stays on the clipboard.

MalibuClip is locked

The screen "MalibuClip Is Locked" appears when MalibuClip may no longer be used, for example because the trial has ended or been revoked, or because the license cannot be verified ("MalibuClip couldn't verify your license."). The screen names the reason. Click Check Again to ask the license server once more. If you bought a license, click I already have a license and enter the key. Buy MalibuClip opens a web page where you can buy MalibuClip. While the block lasts, a global shortcut shows this screen instead of running its action, and MalibuClip does not record the clipboard.

A copied item is missing from the history

A clip is not recorded when the app that was in front is on the blocklist or is one of the password managers built into MalibuClip, or when the clipboard content is marked as concealed (types for concealed content, keychain items and password managers). A format larger than 50 MiB is skipped. The clip is kept with its other formats and is missing only if none remains. A copy that repeats one of the last few copies is ignored. With Reject duplicates on (the default), text that is already in the history is also not added again. The first 500 characters are compared. The list shows only the 500 most recent clips.

Auto-Delete After left files behind

Auto-Delete After removes older entries from the history (pinned clips are skipped) and from the Screenshots list. Files that were saved to a folder and recordings in ~/Movies/MalibuClip are not touched.

Capture Text does nothing

If no text is recognized in the area, nothing happens: the clipboard stays as it was and there is no message. Select an area that contains the text and is not too small.

A scrolling capture does not end by itself

When you scroll yourself, MalibuClip does not detect that you are done. Click Done in the capture panel. A capture also ends at 60 slices. If MalibuClip loses track of the content after several slices, it delivers the part it has, without a message.

A window cannot be picked

Screenshot (Window) skips windows that are as large as a display (within 2 points), for example an app in full screen on macOS. It also skips windows of 100 points or less in width or height, windows that are not on screen, and MalibuClip's own windows. Use Screenshot (Full Screen) or an area capture instead.

The microphone or camera is not recorded

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

The switches Record Microphone and Record Camera in Settings › Recording (Beta) are off by default. When macOS has denied the access and the switch is on or was just refused, a note says that MalibuClip has no microphone access, so no microphone is recorded. For the camera the note says the same. The screen is still recorded. Click Open System Settings and allow it.

The export has no captions

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

Captions are off by default. They are part of the Final Cut Pro export only, and the video and GIF exports have none. The note "MalibuClip has no speech recognition access, so exports get no captions." means macOS denied speech recognition. Allow it under Privacy & Security. A recording without audio is exported without captions and with a warning.

Auto-Zoom is not available for a recording

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

The message "This recording has no cursor data" means the recording has no cursor file. Recordings made with MalibuClip 1.x have none, and the message also appears when the file is missing or cannot be read. Auto-Zoom is available for recordings made with 2.x.

A recording is too long for a GIF

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

A GIF holds at most 360 frames at 5 frames per second or more, which is 72 seconds. A longer recording is refused with the advice "Use Quick Export instead", which is the video export (Quick Export in the recordings list, Export Video in the editor). Shorter ones are exported at a lowered frame rate if needed.

The Final Cut Pro timeline shows no cursor

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

A recording made with Studio Mode has no cursor in its picture. The video and GIF exports draw it afterwards when the cursor is shown in the recording editor. You can hide it there. The Final Cut Pro export does not draw it and warns about that.

A buffer URL does nothing

Status: new, so far only tested automatically; not yet proven in daily use.

An unknown action, a missing or invalid slot number, or a slot above the configured slot count is answered with an error banner in the FCP Buffer tab and a beep. If that tab is not open, you only hear the beep. The save action needs the Accessibility permission. Without it, restore only puts the slot on the clipboard (press ⌘V yourself) and shows a banner and a beep. While the license check blocks the app, valid buffer URLs are ignored without a message.

Launch at Login does not take effect

macOS may need your approval before MalibuClip can start at login. Settings › General then shows a note with an Open Login Items button.

Written for version 2.8.1.