Naked Paste Support

Something not pasting the way you expect? Here are quick fixes and the most common questions.

Talk to the developer

Bug, idea or a question. Every email gets read.

Troubleshooting

I can't find Naked Paste

It lives in the menu bar, as a paste tube icon, with no Dock icon or window. Click the icon for its menu. If your menu bar is full, the icon may be hidden behind the notch: quit another app with a menu bar icon to make room.

Text still pastes with formatting

Check that Clean Clipboard is ticked in the menu (a dimmed icon means paused; right-click it to resume). If you chose "Only the apps I choose" in Settings, text is only cleaned in the apps you ticked; with none ticked, nothing is cleaned.

A copied image turned into text, but I wanted the image

Right-click the menu bar icon to pause, which gives you the image back. To keep images as images for good, turn off "Turn copied images into text" in Settings.

Copy Text from Screen… does nothing

macOS may need your permission to let it read the screen: allow Naked Paste under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, then try again.

Launch at login doesn't stay on

macOS may ask you to approve it. Open System Settings → General → Login Items and allow Naked Paste.

Frequently asked questions

What does Naked Paste actually do?

It watches your Mac's clipboard from the menu bar. When you copy formatted text, from a web page, an email or a document, it swaps it for the same text without fonts, colours, sizes, highlights or links. So a normal ⌘V pastes plain text that takes on the style of wherever you paste it.

Do I need a different shortcut to paste?

No. Naked Paste cleans the clipboard itself, right after you copy, so ⌘V and Edit → Paste work as always, in every app.

How do I get the formatting back?

Right-click the menu bar icon to pause. Pausing puts the formatted version of your last copy back on the clipboard. Right-click again to resume.

What happens when I copy an image?

If the image contains text, Naked Paste replaces it with that text, so pasting gives you the words. Images without text stay images, and copying files in Finder is never affected. Turn off "Turn copied images into text" in Settings to keep every image as an image.

What does Copy Text from Screen… do?

It's in the menu bar menu. Drag over any area of your screen, and the text in it lands on your clipboard, ready to paste. It works even while cleaning is paused.

Can I keep formatting in some apps?

Yes. In Settings, choose "Only the apps I choose" and tick the apps that should get plain text, say Mail and Messages. Every other app gets the original, formatted copy.

What are fancy letters?

The 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑐, 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓅𝓉 and 𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔨𝔱𝔲𝔯 lookalikes people paste into social posts. They're special symbols, not real letters, so they can't be searched and screen readers stumble over them. Naked Paste turns them back into normal letters and digits.

Does anything I copy leave my Mac?

No. Naked Paste has no internet access: macOS's app sandbox keeps it offline. It doesn't store what you copy either. It only holds your last formatted copy in memory, so pausing can give it back.

What do I need?

A Mac with macOS 26 or later. Naked Paste lives in the menu bar, with no Dock icon, and can launch at login.

Requirements

A Mac with macOS 26 or later.