CLCL vs CopyQ

CLCL is a freeware Windows clipboard caching utility. Press Alt+C to open its customizable pop-up menu, then choose a history item or registered item to paste into the active editor. You can register frequently used text as templates, select which clipboard formats to retain or save, and specify windows to ignore. Pictures and tooltips can appear in the menu, and a different paste key can be configured for each window. The maker says CLCL supports all clipboard formats and Unicode. Plug-ins can extend it with tools for text conversion or clipboard clearing, plus formats such as RTF and Windows metafiles. The English page states that it works with Windows XP and later. The download page lists CLCL version 2.1.3 dated 2022/12/1, with executable and ZIP archives, and links to source code on GitHub. A download directory also lists clcl220.zip dated 2026-08-21.

CopyQ keeps a searchable history of clipboard content on Linux, macOS and Windows. It monitors the system clipboard and saves entries in customizable tabs, where users can search, copy, paste, browse and filter past items. Stored formats include text, HTML, images and other custom clipboard data. Entries can be edited, sorted, tagged or annotated. The app also offers system-wide keyboard shortcuts, customizable commands, scripting and a command-line interface; shared commands can be added or imported from the CopyQ Commands repository. Its appearance is customizable, and it includes a Vim-like editor. CopyQ says it does not collect other data or send anything over the network. It recognizes secret clipboard formats by default and excludes that content from storage, display and automatic commands. Built-in encryption can protect stored tab data with a user-set password, kept through Windows Credential Store, macOS Keychain, GNOME Keyring or KWallet. The documented default storage limit is 100 MiB per MIME type, and MIME-specific limits can be changed. The application is free under GPL-3.0.