# How do I completely disable the clipboard manager? **URL:** \ **Category:** Configuration Help & General Discussion\ **Tags:** clipboard-manager\ **Created:** [December 24, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471 "2020-12-24T08:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trost](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/trost/32/17124_2.png) [@Trost](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Trost)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/1 "2020-12-24T08:40:02Z")
I'm using another app to manage my clipboard, how do I stop better touch tool from capturing my clipboard? ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 8:55am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/2 "2020-12-24T08:55:36Z")
Remove any actions that have the „show clipboard manager action“ assigned 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trost](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/trost/32/17124_2.png) [@Trost](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Trost)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/3 "2020-12-24T11:51:04Z")
Solved. I expected this is how it should work, but got confused by the fact that if I remove and then re-add the clipboard action and open the manager, there is still my old clipboard history there. But now I noticed that there is only history that was before deactivation so it's all fine. Thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 11:53am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/4 "2020-12-24T11:53:13Z")
Ah yes, to clear the previous history you first need to add the action again and use the clear all button: ![image](https://community.folivora.ai/uploads/default/original/3X/4/a/4a04183929fb1a80da979b3f2e84d1cb8e08323c.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Fredrik\_A](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/fredrik_a/32/19131_2.png) [@Fredrik\_A](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Fredrik_A)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 6:28am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/5 "2021-07-14T06:28:22Z")
It looks to me like the clipboard entries are saved even if I disable the actions to open the clipboard. If I re-enable it later and then go to the clipboard, I can see stuff from the period when it was disabled. Maybe I`m doing something wrong, but I like to completely disable it and stop it from saving my clipboard. ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/6 "2021-07-14T06:32:57Z")
you need to delete them, disabling in this case just stops the actions but not the recording ---
**Author:** ![mkozjak](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/mkozjak/32/27484_2.png) [@mkozjak](https://community.folivora.ai/u/mkozjak)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 9:00am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/7 "2024-01-11T09:00:36Z")
This is a security concern for sure. Is it now possible to completely disable it? Or at least hide sensitive content from being saved in plain text there? `All apps -> Disable Clipboard Manager` still records everything, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 9:11am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/8 "2024-01-11T09:11:42Z")
By default the clipboard manager doesn't record data that is marked as sensitive by the app it is copied from, e.g. password managers. (However the clipboard on macOS is public, so any running app can access it without restrictions - this means if an attacker can run an app on your machine to steal BTT's clipboard data, it could also run an app on your machine that directly copies your clipboard data - including data marked as sensitive). On iOS Apple made the clipboard "private" with iOS 16, there apps need to explicitly ask for permission to paste. > [@mkozjak](#): > > `All apps -> Disable Clipboard Manager` still records everything, it seems. If it's disabled for an app it doesn't record anything copied while that app is active. To completely disable the clipboard manager, delete any clipboard manager actions you have and restart BTT. If you just want to temporarily disable clipboard observation, you can use the predefined actions "Disable Clipboard Observations" and "Enable Clipboard Observation" ---
**Author:** ![random\_w](https://community.folivora.ai/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@random\_w](https://community.folivora.ai/u/random_w)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 9:24am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/9 "2026-03-13T09:24:22Z")
> [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](#): > > he previous history you first need to add the action again and use the clear all button: Something seems wrong with how this works. I learned that BTT has a Clipboard Manager, so I created a trigger to check if it has been recording my clipboard contents – which I DON’T WANT. The Clipboard Manager thankfully then showed no copied content. However, the trigger initiated everything being recorded into the Clipboard Manager. To disable function, I “Cleared History” in the Clipboard Manager settings, deleted the “Show Clipboard Manager trigger”, and then quit/restarted BTT. I then copied some text to test what happened, both when BTT was in a quit state, when BTT was running but without the Clipboard Manager trigger existing. Then I added the Clipboard Manager trigger again to see what was happening – and then the contents I copied even when BTT was in a quit state was copied into the Clipboard Manager! So something must be recording my clipboard even if there is no trigger for Show Clipboard Manager!?? Can you please clarify what is going on here? **Overall, how this works leads to a “loop” – a very bad design. I would expect BTT to have a toggle in Settings to enable or disable clipboard – definitely and without ambiguity!** ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 9:26am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/10 "2026-03-13T09:26:37Z")
If BTT is not running it can not record your clipboard. There are multiple things that can activate the clipboard observation in BTT (but again only if BTT is running): - the "Clipboard Contents Did Change" automation - the Show/Hide Clipboard Manager actions - the Clipboard Manager Widget for Touch Bar or Notch Bar - clipboard manager related Java Script functions being used in some scripts used in some of your actions ---
**Author:** ![random\_w](https://community.folivora.ai/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@random\_w](https://community.folivora.ai/u/random_w)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 9:56am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/11 "2026-03-13T09:56:23Z")
> [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](#): > > If BTT is not running it can not record your clipboard. That may be true, with a modification. It seems that if something was copied into the clipboard before BTT was running, and BTT is then opened, it gets recorded from the clipboard. Experiment – I added these 4 rows to Apple Notes: `Copy 1 - copied while BTT was quit` `Copy 2 - copied while BTT was quit, but currently copied (CMD C) when reopening BTT` `Copy 3 - copied with BTT running, no trigger exists yet` `Copy 4 - copied after Show Clipboard trigger exists` I then perform the operations stated above. ![Screenshot 2026-03-13 at 10.46.36](https://community.folivora.ai/uploads/default/original/3X/2/9/29e920700a789d60a35a4e1a080875c23a1d23ec.jpeg) `Copy 1 - copied while BTT was quit` is not included, but `Copy 2 - copied while BTT was quit, but currently copied (CMD C) when reopening BTT` and `Copy 3 - copied with BTT running, no trigger exists yet` are included, and there did not exist a trigger for “Show Clipboard Contents” neither copying Copy 2 or Copy 3. Unless I am misunderstanding something, this proves that BTT is recording the clipboard even though there is no “Show Clipboard Contents” toggle active. And to clarify, I don’t have any of the other clipboard observation-activating triggers you mentioned actived (e.g. the _"Clipboard Contents Did Change" automation_… etc) as far as I’m aware of. Even if I did, I think this design that posits enabling the clipboard to check if the clipboard is enabled, is not good. I will have to restore BTT from a backup because this seems risky. ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/user_avatar/community.folivora.ai/andreas_hegenberg/32/39221_2.png) [@Andreas\_Hegenberg](https://community.folivora.ai/u/Andreas_Hegenberg)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 10:04am UTC](https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-do-i-completely-disable-the-clipboard-manager/20471/12 "2026-03-13T10:04:48Z")
You can completely disable clipboard observation by enabling this option "For All Apps", then even if you have some trigger or action that you might be missing right now it won't record: ![image](https://community.folivora.ai/uploads/default/original/3X/b/2/b24da544897d3ebfc0fc1129dbdd58c40413db69.jpeg) However note that **any** app can record your clipboard without any permissions and without you noticing right now. Even sandboxed apps. [Apple wanted to tackle this with extra permissions](https://mjtsai.com/blog/2025/05/12/pasteboard-privacy-preview-in-macos-15-4/) on macOS 26 but they postponed the effort because it broke too many things. I guess macOS 27 will introduce proper permissions for clipboard observation.