Usage

Daily workflow in three surfaces.

Main window for browsing history, Quick Picker for fast keyboard recall, and tray or menu bar controls for background operation.

Main window

  1. Launch: run yanklog.
  2. Copy: yanklog watches clipboard updates automatically.
  3. Search: search the complete encrypted history, with responsive paging and a visible result count.
  4. Reuse: click any entry to copy it back to clipboard.
  5. Inspect: select an entry for keyboard navigation or open its full-content preview.
  6. Clean up: undo individual deletions, or clear history with confirmation and the option to keep pinned entries.
  7. Tune: open Settings for history limits, privacy filters, Quick Picker opacity, storage paths, and theme.

Quick Picker mode

Quick Picker is the fastest retrieval path when you are already typing.

yanklog --pick
# or
yanklog -p
  • Up/Down or j/k: move selection.
  • Enter/Return: copy selected item.
  • macOS: Cmd+1–9 copies by index, Cmd+P pins, and Cmd+Delete removes.
  • Linux: Ctrl+1–9 copies by index, Ctrl+P pins, and Ctrl+Delete removes.
  • Esc: close picker without copying.

Quick Picker shortcut setup

macOS registers its global shortcut inside yanklog. Linux desktop environments handle global shortcuts differently, so bind the Quick Picker command in your system keyboard settings.

macOS

  1. Open Settings in yanklog.
  2. Set the Quick Picker shortcut. The default is Cmd+Shift+V.
  3. Use the menu bar item or the shortcut to open Quick Picker.

Linux

  • GNOME/KDE/XFCE custom shortcut command: yanklog --pick
  • i3/Sway example: bindsym $mod+v exec yanklog --pick

Tray and menu bar

  • Show yanklog: open the main window while the app keeps running in the background.
  • Quick Pick: open the compact picker without opening the main window.
  • Pause monitoring: pause for 15 minutes, one hour, until tomorrow where available, or until you resume manually.
  • Check for update: open the update dialog and install newer direct-download releases.
  • Quit: fully exit the background app.

Start at login

Enable Start at login in Settings to keep clipboard monitoring available after you sign in. The direct macOS app uses the system login-item service, while Linux installs use desktop autostart. The startup launch stays in the background rather than opening the main window.