Image-first clipboard history
Watches the clipboard for PNG, JPEG and TIFF images, including screenshots copied with Control Shift Command 4. Text copies are ignored.
Open source · macOS 14+ · Universal binary · Clipboard
Search the words
inside every screenshot
ShotClipSearch saves each image you copy and reads the text in it on-device. Press Command Shift V, type a word, and copy the right picture back.
Free & MIT licensed · Apple Silicon & Intel · Latest release
Features
Find any copied image fast.
Everything runs locally, from capture to text recognition to search.
On-device text recognition
Apple Vision reads the text in each image in the background. Choose automatic detection or a specific language in Settings.
Search words, apps and dates
The search field matches recognized text, the source app name and the date. Cards show the first line of text and a timestamp.
Keyboard-driven gallery
Open it with Command Shift V, move with arrow keys, press Return to copy back, Space to preview and Delete to remove.
Retention you control
Keep images for 7, 30 or 90 days, or forever, and cap storage between 50 and 1000 images. Pinned images never expire.
Private by design
No server, account or network code. Images, thumbnails and the index stay in a folder on your disk. Transient pasteboard items are skipped.
Screenshots
See it in action.
Install
Up and running in a minute.
ShotClipSearch is open source and not notarized with a paid Apple Developer ID, so macOS needs one extra step the first time.
- Download ShotClipSearch-macOS.zip and unzip it.
- Move ShotClipSearch.app to your Applications folder.
- Clear the quarantine flag once, then right-click the app and choose Open:
xattr -cr /Applications/ShotClipSearch.app
- No special permissions are required. If you turn on Launch at login, macOS lists the app under System Settings General Login Items.
Download
Get ShotClipSearch for macOS
Free, forever. Built for macOS 14 Sonoma or newer, Apple Silicon and Intel.
Not notarized: on first launch right-click ShotClipSearch.app → Open.
- macOS 14 Sonoma+
- Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel)
- MIT licensed · open source
- No ads, no accounts, no telemetry
- Built with Claude Code · how and why
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is ShotClipSearch really free and open source?
Yes. It is released under the MIT license and the full source is on GitHub. There are no accounts, subscriptions or paid tiers, and an optional Support button links to Ko-fi.
What permissions does it need?
None. It only reads the clipboard, never captures your screen, and the global shortcut does not need Accessibility access. Launch at login is optional and appears in Login Items.
Where is my data stored?
Images, thumbnails and a JSON index are kept in ~/Library/Application Support/ShotClipSearch/ on your Mac. Text recognition runs on-device and nothing is sent over the network.
Why isn't the app notarized?
Notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account, and this is a free project. Right-click the app and choose Open once to launch it, or build it yourself from source with Xcode and XcodeGen.
Was this written by AI?
Yes. ShotClipSearch was generated by Claude Code from a written spec as a clean-room reimplementation, with no code or assets from any commercial app. The full source is on GitHub under MIT, so you can read every line before you run it. It has had less human review than a hand-written app, so bug reports are welcome.
Support ❤️
Built by one person, given away for free.
ShotClipSearch is a free, open-source alternative to paid utilities. If it earns a spot on your Mac, a coffee keeps the updates coming.
☕ Support Or on Ko-fi