Best clipboard manager for Linux: Ubuntu, GNOME, KDE, Mint and Hyprland
On Linux the right clipboard manager depends on your desktop and on whether you run Xorg or Wayland. Here are the ones worth installing on each, what they keep, and where they stop.
On KDE Plasma, use the history Plasma already has, Klipper, which opens with Meta+V. On GNOME and Ubuntu, install the Clipboard Indicator extension, or Copyous for a larger window with tags; on Sway, Hyprland and other wlroots compositors, run cliphist with wl-clipboard. CopyQ is the best single app across desktops, though on GNOME's Wayland session it needs its own Shell extension. Linux Mint's Cinnamon has no history of its own, so add CopyQ or a clipboard applet.
How this guide was checked
Each app's supported desktops, Wayland support, image support, license and latest release were checked on its own repository, documentation or extensions.gnome.org page in November 2026. The apps were not benchmarked against each other. Clypy's Linux behavior was checked against its source code.
On this page
Linux clipboard managers compared
| App | Desktop | Wayland | Images | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klipper | KDE Plasma | Yes | Yes, if enabled | Part of Plasma |
| Clipboard Indicator | GNOME 47 to 51 | Yes, as an extension | Yes | MIT |
| Copyous | GNOME 48 to 51 | Yes, as an extension | Yes | GPL-3.0 |
| CopyQ | Any, plus Windows and macOS | Plasma, wlroots; GNOME via its extension | Yes | GPL-3.0 |
| GPaste | GNOME | Yes, via its extension | Yes | BSD-2-Clause |
| cliphist | wlroots compositors | Yes, needs data control | Yes | GPL-3.0 |
| clipse | Any, in a terminal | Yes, with wl-clipboard | Yes | MIT |
| Clypy | Any x64 desktop | GNOME; others vary | Yes | Proprietary |
The short list
- Best if you use KDE Plasma
Klipper
- Runs on:
- KDE Plasma
- Price:
- Free, built in
Plasma's own clipboard history, already in the system tray. Meta+V opens it as a pop-up, you search by typing, and it keeps up to 2,048 entries, across logouts if you choose. Hovering over a clip offers actions such as editing it or showing it as a barcode.
Where it stops: It belongs to Plasma, so it is not an option on other desktops. There is no scripting and no way to reach the history from another device.
- Best simple option for GNOME and Ubuntu
Clipboard Indicator
- Runs on:
- GNOME Shell 47 to 51, with an older release for GNOME 46
- Price:
- Free, open source
A GNOME Shell extension that adds a clipboard menu to the top bar. It keeps text and images, searches with plain text or regular expressions, pins items, and has a private mode that pauses recording. Running inside GNOME Shell is what lets it work on GNOME's Wayland session.
Where it stops: It is a compact menu with no tags or categories, and it only runs on GNOME. Its README notes a short freeze when you copy a large image.
- Best GNOME option for images, files and tags
Copyous
- Runs on:
- GNOME Shell 48 to 51
- Price:
- Free, open source
A rewrite of the Pano extension that opens a clipboard window at the pointer or text cursor with Super+Shift+V. It recognizes text, code, images, files, links, characters and colors, lets you pin items and sort them with nine colored tags, and has an incognito mode.
Where it stops: It needs GNOME 48 or later and depends on the libgda and GSound libraries.
- Best single app across desktops
CopyQ
- Runs on:
- Linux, Windows, macOS 13 or later
- Price:
- Free, open source
A standalone clipboard manager with tabs, an item editor and a scripting engine, storing text, HTML, images and other formats. On Wayland it monitors the clipboard natively on KDE Plasma, Sway, Hyprland and other wlroots compositors, and on GNOME through a Shell extension it ships. Version 17.0.0 came out in October 2026.
Where it stops: On GNOME's Wayland session that extension does not work in the Flatpak or AppImage builds, so use your distribution's package. It has no phone app and no built-in sync.
- Best for several histories and command-line control on GNOME
GPaste
- Runs on:
- GNOME
- Price:
- Free, open source
A clipboard daemon with three ways in: a GNOME Shell extension, a GTK 4 window and the gpaste-client command. It keeps plain text, rich text, HTML and images, lets you switch between named histories, and routes its shortcuts through the desktop portal so they behave the same on Wayland and X11.
Where it stops: It is built for GNOME, with its clipboard backend hosted by the Shell extension. Release 51.3 targets GNOME 51, and its README says a .deb of that series has to be built by hand for now.
- Best for Sway, Hyprland and other wlroots compositors
cliphist
- Runs on:
- Wayland compositors with data control, such as Sway and Hyprland
- Price:
- Free, open source
A small command-line history for text and images. wl-paste from wl-clipboard feeds it each copy, and you browse it through the launcher you already use, such as rofi, wofi, fuzzel or dmenu, bound to a key. It is the first clipboard manager the Hyprland wiki lists.
Where it stops: There is no window or tray icon; you assemble the picker yourself. Its watcher needs the data-control protocol, which rules out GNOME.
- Best terminal interface
clipse
- Runs on:
- Linux on Wayland or X11, macOS
- Price:
- Free, open source
A clipboard manager that runs in a terminal, which tiling users bind to a key and open as a floating window. It handles text and images and ships separate Wayland and X11 builds for x86 and ARM.
Where it stops: On Wayland it relies on wl-clipboard, and auto-paste can need access to /dev/uinput. Its latest tagged release is 1.2.1, from January 2026.
- Best if you want the history on your phone and other computers
Clypy
- Runs on:
- Linux x64 (.deb, .rpm, AppImage), plus macOS, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android
- Price:
- Free; Lifetime Pro $29.99 once
Unlimited history for free with no account, searchable by meaning, with the text in screenshots readable too, all on the device. It saves each copy on Xorg and on GNOME's Wayland session; Settings, General, Linux integration shows what your session allows. Pro adds the Paste Strip on Ctrl + Alt + V and end-to-end encrypted sync with your Mac, PC and phones.
Where it stops: It is not open source, which rules it out for many Linux users, and it ships for x64 only. On other Wayland desktops, including Plasma, Sway and Hyprland, what it can capture depends on the compositor.
Start with your desktop and session
On Xorg, any app can watch the clipboard. On Wayland, the compositor decides: KDE Plasma, Sway, Hyprland and other wlroots compositors offer a data-control protocol that lets a background tool see each copy, while GNOME does not, which is why GNOME clipboard managers are Shell extensions. That matters more now that Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ships GNOME 50 with a Wayland-only desktop session. Our Linux clipboard history guide shows how to check which session you are in.
KDE Plasma: Klipper is already there
For most Plasma users the built-in history is enough. To keep images copied from an editor, right-click the clipboard icon, choose Configure Clipboard and tick Image data copied explicitly; image files copied in a file manager are always kept. Add CopyQ only if you want tabs, scripting, or the same app on Windows or a Mac.
GNOME and Ubuntu: choose an extension
GNOME has no clipboard history, and on Wayland ordinary apps cannot watch its clipboard, so the dependable choices are Shell extensions. Clipboard Indicator is the simple top-bar menu, Copyous the larger window with types and tags, and GPaste the one with named histories and a command-line client. Install them from extensions.gnome.org or the Extension Manager app, and check the GNOME versions each one lists.
For CopyQ on GNOME's Wayland session, install it from your distribution's repositories (sudo apt install copyq on Ubuntu): its clipboard monitoring there comes from a Shell extension that does not work in the Flatpak or AppImage builds. Pano, once a popular GNOME clipboard extension, is no longer maintained, and its author points users to Copyous.
Linux Mint and Cinnamon
Cinnamon, Linux Mint's main desktop, does not come with a clipboard history, so you add one. The broadest choice is CopyQ, which is in the Ubuntu repositories Mint builds on: install the copyq package from the Software Manager or with apt. For a panel applet, open System Settings, Applets and browse Cinnamon Spices. Spicy Clipboard Manager works on X11 and Wayland and relies on yad, plus xclip for images. GPaste Reloaded is a front end for GPaste and needs the GPaste packages installed first.
Recent comments on GPaste Reloaded report it failing on some Cinnamon 6 releases, so read them before installing. Diodon, long suggested for Ubuntu and Mint, is now in low maintenance mode: its maintainers only address packaging, translation and security issues.
Sway, Hyprland and other wlroots compositors
These compositors give clipboard tools the access GNOME withholds, so you choose by interface. With cliphist you run wl-paste --watch cliphist store once per session and bind a key to a picker; clipse puts the history in a terminal you can float. For something closer to Windows key + V, cursor-clip is a GTK 4 panel modeled on the Windows 11 clipboard that opens at the pointer on Hyprland, Sway, niri, Labwc and Plasma's Wayland session, though not GNOME. It is still in active development.
How this list was put together
Clypy makes this guide and one of the apps on it, listed on the same terms as the rest. In November 2026 each app's desktops, Wayland and image support, license and latest release were checked on its own repository, documentation or extensions.gnome.org page. The apps were not benchmarked against each other. Pano (unmaintained) and Diodon (low maintenance mode) were left off.
Common questions
What is the best clipboard manager for Ubuntu?
On Ubuntu's default GNOME desktop, Clipboard Indicator is the simplest choice and Copyous the fuller one; both are Shell extensions, so they work on Ubuntu 26.04's Wayland-only session. For CopyQ, install it from Ubuntu's repositories, not as a Flatpak or AppImage, so its GNOME extension works.
Is there a Linux clipboard manager like Windows key + V?
Yes. On KDE Plasma, Meta+V opens Klipper's history as a pop-up. On GNOME, Copyous opens a history window at the pointer or text cursor with Super+Shift+V. On Hyprland, Sway and other wlroots compositors, cursor-clip is modeled on the Windows 11 clipboard panel.
Does CopyQ work on Wayland?
Yes, with conditions. It monitors the clipboard natively on KDE Plasma, Sway, Hyprland and other wlroots compositors, and on GNOME through a Shell extension that does not work in the Flatpak or AppImage builds. Global shortcuts work where the desktop provides the XDG desktop portal.
Which Linux clipboard managers support images?
Klipper (once you tick Image data copied explicitly), Clipboard Indicator, Copyous, GPaste, CopyQ, cliphist, clipse and Clypy all keep images. Clypy also reads the text in them, so a screenshot can be found by its words.
Does Linux Mint have a clipboard manager?
Not built into Cinnamon. Install CopyQ with apt, or add an applet from Cinnamon Spices in System Settings, Applets.
What is the best clipboard manager for Hyprland?
cliphist with wl-clipboard is the most common setup and the first the Hyprland wiki lists. clipse adds a terminal interface and cursor-clip a graphical panel at the pointer. All of them rely on the data-control protocol Hyprland provides.
Official sources
Platform behavior changes over time. These primary references were used for the latest review.
- KDE Documentation: Configuring Klipper
- GNOME Extensions: Clipboard Indicator
- GNOME Extensions: Copyous
- GPaste on GitHub
- Pano on GitHub (maintenance notice)
- CopyQ documentation: Known issues (Wayland support)
- cliphist on GitHub
- Ubuntu 26.04 LTS release notes: summary for LTS users
- Cinnamon Spices: Spicy Clipboard Manager
- Diodon on Launchpad