CopyDown Support

CopyDown is a menu-bar app for Mac (macOS 14 or later) that collects what you copy — text and screenshots — into groups or tables, so you can paste everything at once. Questions? Email support.copydown@gmail.com.

Getting Started

1. Open CopyDown. Its icon — a “D” with a down arrow and a small group number — appears in the menu bar. There’s no Dock icon.
2. A short welcome explains the basics. You can skip it and reopen it any time from the menu-bar icon → ⋯ → Getting Started…
3. Press ⌥⌘C to turn on capture mode, copy a few things with ⌘C, press ⌥⌘V, then paste with ⌘V.

Click the menu-bar icon to see, edit, reorder and clear what you’ve collected.

Capture mode

• ⌥⌘C (Toggle capture mode) turns capture mode on or off. While it’s on, the menu-bar icon shows a pink dot and the popover says “Capturing”.
• While it’s on, everything you copy with ⌘C — text or images — is added to the current group.
• While it’s off, copying works exactly as normal and nothing is collected.
• Copied files, and content that password managers mark as private, aren’t collected.
• Capture mode always starts off when CopyDown opens.

Groups

• CopyDown has 9 groups. New items go into the current group until you switch.
• Switch with ⌥⌘1 … ⌥⌘9 or the 1–9 buttons in the popover. A dot under a number means that group has items.
• ⌥⌘0 (Show contents) briefly shows what’s in the current group.
• ⌥⌘⌫ (Clear group) or the trash button empties the current group.
• Everything is saved automatically and survives quitting and restarting.

Copy group (paste a group)

• ⌥⌘V (Copy group), or the Copy Group button in the popover, puts the whole current group on the clipboard. Then click where you want it and press ⌘V. CopyDown never types or pastes into other apps itself.
• Lists paste with each item on its own line — its own paragraph in Notes, Pages, Word or Google Docs — with notes indented under their item.
• Screenshots paste in order with the text in apps that support pictures (Notes, Pages, Mail, TextEdit, Google Docs).
• If you edit the group after copying it, the clipboard updates too — unless you’ve copied something else in the meantime.

Tables

• Switch a group to Table with the List/Table control in the popover, or ⌥⌘T (Toggle table mode).
• Each copy fills the next cell, left to right, then the next row. The next cell has a dashed pink outline.
• Choose 1–10 columns. Double-click a column header to name it. Tick Copy with headers to include the header row when you copy.
• Copy Group pastes into Numbers, Excel and Google Sheets as real rows and columns.
• Double-click a cell to edit it. Right-click a cell for Clear Cell or Delete Cell and Shift Left. Drag a cell onto another to move it; hold ⌥ while releasing to swap.
• Screenshots in tables paste as empty cells in spreadsheets; notes aren’t included in table pastes.

Screenshots

• Press ⌥⌘S (Capture screenshot), then drag over any area of the screen. Esc or a single click cancels.
• The screenshot goes straight into the current group. Nothing is saved to your Desktop.
• This needs Screen Recording permission — see Permissions.

Notes

• Press ⌥⌘↩ (Add note) right after a copy. Type your note and press Return to save. Esc, Cancel or clicking elsewhere closes it.
• In the popover, right-click any item → Add Note, Edit Note or Remove Note, or double-click a note to edit it.

Keyboard shortcuts

Change shortcuts in Settings (menu-bar icon → ⋯ → Settings…): click a shortcut and press new keys, use ⓧ to remove it, ↺ to restore its default, or Reset to Defaults.

Shortcut conflicts

CopyDown uses global keyboard shortcuts, so while CopyDown is running a default shortcut overrides the same shortcut in Finder or the app in front:

Every CopyDown shortcut can be changed or removed in Settings.

Permissions

• Paste from Other Apps (macOS 15.4 and later) — capture mode reads what you copy in other apps. macOS asks the first time; choose Allow. You can change it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Paste from Other Apps.
• Screen & System Audio Recording — only for Capture screenshot, only when you drag an area. CopyDown never records your screen in the background, and everything else works without it. After allowing it, use Quit & Reopen (in the popover or Settings).
• Launch at login — optional, off by default (Settings → General).

CopyDown doesn’t need Accessibility, Input Monitoring or network access.

Troubleshooting

• Copying doesn’t add anything — check capture mode is on (pink dot on the menu-bar icon), and that CopyDown is allowed in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Paste from Other Apps.
• A shortcut doesn’t work — another app may use it. Settings marks it “In use by another app”; choose a different one.
• A shortcut does CopyDown’s action instead of another app’s — see Shortcut conflicts; change or remove the CopyDown shortcut in Settings.
• Screenshots don’t work — allow CopyDown in Screen & System Audio Recording, then use Quit & Reopen.
• Pasting into a spreadsheet puts everything in one cell — make sure the group is in Table mode before copying it.
• CopyDown doesn’t start at login — turn on Launch at login in Settings; if it says “Waiting for approval”, allow it in System Settings → General → Login Items.

Privacy

CopyDown works entirely on your Mac. Your copied text, screenshots, notes and tables are stored only on your Mac and are never uploaded. There’s no account, analytics or tracking. See the Privacy Policy.

To remove all CopyDown data: quit CopyDown, move it to the Trash, and delete the folder ~/Library/Containers/com.akimple.CopyDown.

Contact

Email support.copydown@gmail.com with questions, bug reports or feature ideas — or use Give Feedback… in the app (menu-bar icon → ⋯).