HoldallHow to keep passwords out of your clipboard history on a Mac
A clipboard history saves what you copy, and that can include passwords and keys. Password managers mark their copies so that careful clipboard apps skip them. Holdall skips those, ignores the main password managers anyway, and spots keys and passwords that carry no mark.
Why it matters
A password you copy sits on the clipboard like any other text. A history app that keeps everything keeps the password too, and shows it the next time you open the history, perhaps while someone looks at your screen.
How Holdall keeps them out
- Marked copies are never saved. Password managers mark copies as concealed or short-lived. Holdall leaves those out.
- Password managers are ignored out of the box. Copies from Keychain Access, Passwords, 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, Dashlane and KeePassXC are skipped even if an app forgets the mark. Add or remove apps in Holdall's Settings, under Privacy.
- Keys and passwords without a mark are spotted. An API key from a web page, or a line such as
DB_PASSWORD=...from a file, is recognised by its shape. Holdall hides most of it behind dots in the panel and deletes it 5 minutes after you copied it. - Your clips never leave your Mac. Holdall keeps its history on your Mac and reads words in copied images there too.
Under Privacy, Keys and passwords sets what happens to the copies Holdall spots: Delete them after 5 minutes, which is where it starts, Don't save them, or Keep them, still hidden behind dots.
Clear the history
Right-click the menu bar icon and choose Clear history…. Holdall asks first. Pinned clips, snippets, clips in collections and clips with a shortcut stay.
If something slips through
Delete it from the panel: right-click the clip and choose Delete. Then add the app it came from to the ignored apps under Privacy, so its copies are skipped from then on.