How to copy and paste between an Android phone and a Mac

Why nothing built in connects them

Universal Clipboard is one of Apple's Continuity features. Every device has to be a Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro signed into the same Apple Account, with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff turned on, so an Android phone can never take part. The phone makers' own tools point the other way: Samsung Flow shares the clipboard with Windows PCs and Galaxy tablets, not Macs, and Google has no Mac app for it.

Many older articles recommend Chrome's Copy to your devices option, which sent copied text from Chrome on a computer to Chrome on your phone. Google has removed it, so it is no longer an answer.

Free and open source: KDE Connect

KDE Connect is the best free option. It has a stable macOS release and an Android app, and with both on the same Wi-Fi network it shares clipboard text, along with files and notifications. It has three limits worth knowing before you start. The stable Mac build is for Apple silicon only, so Intel Macs get untested nightly builds. It carries text but not images. And Android 10 and later stop it reading the phone's clipboard in the background, so sending from the phone takes a tap.

1. 1Install KDE Connect on the Mac from kdeconnect.kde.org, or with brew install --cask kde-connect.
2. 2Install KDE Connect on the phone from Google Play or F-Droid.
3. 3With both on the same Wi-Fi network, pair them from the phone app and accept the request on the Mac.
4. 4Copy text on the Mac and paste it on the phone.
5. 5To send from the phone, copy the text, then tap Send clipboard in KDE Connect's notification, or use its Quick Settings tile on Android 14 and later.

Why the phone side needs a tap

Since Android 10, only the keyboard you are using, or the app on screen, can read the clipboard. Background apps cannot. It is a privacy protection, and every Android clipboard tool works within it. KDE Connect handles it with a button, and Clypy with its own keyboard, which saves every copy while it is the selected keyboard, and the share sheet.

When you need a history that syncs both ways

If you want screenshots and images as well as text, the clip you copied an hour ago and not just the last one, or the same clipboard on a Windows PC too, you need an app on each device that keeps a history. Clypy runs natively on macOS and Android, keeps unlimited history on each, and syncs between them with end-to-end encryption: directly over Wi-Fi when both are on the same network, and through a relay that cannot read your clips when they are not.

1. 1Install Clypy on the Mac from clypy.app/download, and on the phone from Google Play.
2. 2On the Mac, allow Accessibility when Clypy asks, so it can paste into other apps.
3. 3On the Mac, open Settings, Devices, and choose Pair a device. No account is needed.
4. 4On the phone, open Clypy's pairing screen and scan the code. This exchanges the encryption keys between the two devices.
5. 5When Clypy asks, enable the Clypy keyboard in Android's settings, then switch to it in any app.
6. 6Copy on the Mac and tap the clip in the Clypy keyboard to paste it. Going the other way, copy on the phone and press Command + Option + V on the Mac.

On Android, Clypy saves every copy while its keyboard is the selected keyboard, even with it hidden, and your latest copy when you switch to it; otherwise it saves when you open the app, share something to it, or choose Save to Clypy after selecting text. On Android 13 and later it sends that clip to the Mac straight away through the relay, without the app being open, and keeps trying for about an hour if the Mac is off. Clips going the other way arrive while Clypy is open and during Android's periodic background syncs, so open the app for a moment if one has not appeared yet. Sync and the Android keyboard are part of Clypy Pro.

Sending one thing: LocalSend and the manual options

LocalSend is a free, open-source app for Android, macOS, Windows, Linux and iOS that sends files and text to a nearby device over your local network, with no account. It does not sync the clipboard: you paste the text into LocalSend and send it, which suits an occasional link or block of text. A note app that runs on both, or a message to yourself, works too. If you only need this twice a week, any of those is the right answer.