What Exactly Happens Between Cmd-C and Cmd-V on Your Mac?

Copy the sample, then choose where to paste it. The Pasteboard shows what each destination checks before producing a result.

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Copied from

This article

1 · Copy the sample Copy this sample Ready.

Sample to copy The Part 1 sample Plain text, formatted content and ContextPaste metadata

Copyadds these together

Simulated Pasteboard

One copy, three representations

2 · Paste into Copy the sample first.

TerminalUses plain text NotesKeeps formatting Clipboard InspectorShows all three

Waiting for the copy

Copy the sample to add its three representations here.

Pastechecks + uses one

Pasted into

?

Destination

Select destination

Copy the sample, then choose a destination.

What happened

The simulated copy added the sample’s three representations together. Terminal used the plain-text representation. Notes could use plain text or formatted content and chose the formatted version. Clipboard Inspector behaved differently: an inspector shows every representation it can access instead of reducing the clipboard item to one pasted result.

The place copied from is called the source. The place pasted into is called the destination. The examples above make those roles easier to see.

Nothing in the pasteboard format requires every representation to contain matching information. Apps normally keep them consistent because mismatched versions can produce broken or deceptive paste results.

Inspect a real paste or drop

The free Clipboard Inspector shows every entry your browser exposes. Try content copied from another app, then compare it with a drop. The available entries depend on the browser and on the route you used.

A native Mac inspector can see additional pasteboard types that browsers restrict. ContextPaste is being designed to show that complete inventory before another app chooses what to paste.