FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Drobu is a macOS clipboard manager that captures text, images, GIFs, files, and screen recordings, lets you crop, trim, and search them in one panel, and pastes one item or many back with a single keystroke. Everything stays on your Mac with no account to create, it is a one-time $14.99 purchase, and it works on macOS 14 or later.
What it is
macOS clipboard manager with built-in editing and screen capture
Price
$14.99 one-time (no subscription)
Trial
14 days, no card required
Platform
macOS 14 (Sonoma) and later
Privacy
Local, no account, no tracking
Capture
GIF + video, with crop and trim
What is Drobu?
Drobu is the clipboard you can edit: a macOS clipboard manager with built-in editing and screen capture. It keeps a searchable history of everything you copy (text, images, GIFs, files, and screen recordings), lets you crop, trim, and clean any item before pasting it, and pastes one item or many back with a single keystroke. Everything stays on your Mac. It is a one-time $14.99 purchase and runs on macOS 14 or later.
What is the best clipboard manager for Mac?
It depends on what you need. Maccy is a great free, open-source choice for plain clipboard history. Paste is polished and syncs across iPhone and Mac on a subscription. Drobu is the best fit if you want a clipboard you can edit: searchable history plus crop, trim, and screen capture in one local tool, for a one-time price. The built-in macOS 26 Spotlight clipboard works for short-term text but clears clips within days.
Can a clipboard manager record your screen?
Most do not. Clipboard managers like Maccy and Paste only store what you copy. Drobu does more: screen recording is one of its inputs. Select a region, capture it as a GIF or video, trim it on the clipboard, and paste it straight into Slack, GitHub, or any app, the same edit-before-you-paste loop Drobu gives every clip. Recordings land in your clipboard history alongside text and images, with no separate file to manage.
How do I see clipboard history on a Mac?
macOS only remembers the last thing you copied, so to see older items you need a clipboard manager. macOS 26 added a Spotlight clipboard that keeps recent clips for up to seven days. For a searchable history you control, kept for up to a year, a dedicated app like Drobu saves what you copy and lets you find it with a keystroke and a few letters.
How is Drobu different from Maccy?
Maccy is a free, open-source clipboard manager that does text and image history very well. Drobu is a paid app ($14.99 one-time) that adds what Maccy does not: editing clips on the clipboard (crop images, trim GIFs and video, clean text), plus screen capture as a GIF or video, with full-text search across your history. Choose Maccy if you only need clipboard history; choose Drobu if you also want to edit and capture in the same tool.
Is Drobu better than the built-in macOS 26 Spotlight clipboard?
They serve different needs. The macOS 26 Spotlight clipboard is free and built in, but it clears clips within about seven days, strips formatting, cannot edit clips, and cannot capture your screen. Drobu keeps your history for up to a year, preserves formatting, lets you crop, trim, and clean clips before pasting, captures your screen to GIF or video, and runs on macOS 14 and later, not just macOS 26. Spotlight is fine for a quick recent buffer; Drobu is for keeping, editing, and reusing more.
Is Drobu private, and where is my data stored?
Yes. Drobu stores everything locally on your Mac in a private database. There is no account and no tracking, and your clipboard history never leaves your device. Drobu also ignores passwords and concealed items from password managers like 1Password, so they are never saved to your history. Activating a paid license does send a device fingerprint and a device label to our server to enforce the 3-device limit, but never your clipboard or your activity.
How much does Drobu cost, and is there a free trial?
Drobu is a one-time $14.99 purchase, not a subscription. You can try it free for 14 days with full functionality and no payment method required upfront. The purchase includes all updates to Drobu 1.x and a license you can use on up to three of your Macs.
Can I get a refund?
Drobu is free to try for 14 days with full functionality and no payment method required, so you can fully decide before you pay. Because of that trial, all sales are final and we do not offer refunds once you purchase. If Drobu is not working for you, email support@drobu.app and we will make it right.
What macOS version does Drobu need?
Drobu requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Unlike the built-in macOS 26 Spotlight clipboard, which needs macOS 26, Drobu also runs on macOS 14 and 15.