Keyboard shortcuts
Every key and mouse action in Pesto, in one place. Global shortcuts can be changed in Settings → Shortcuts; the keys on the shelf are fixed.
Everywhere
These work in any app. Click a shortcut in Settings → Shortcuts, then press the new keys. A shortcut needs Command comma Option or Control.
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Command Shift V | Open the shelf. (Settings → General can open a small mouse-only menu of your last five copies at the cursor instead.) |
| Unset | Paste the previous copy (the second most recent) without opening anything. Record a shortcut for it in Settings → Shortcuts; Pesto no longer claims Command Option V for it on a new install, because other apps use that key. |
| Control Option Command V | Paste what is on the clipboard now as plain text. It needs plain text on the clipboard; if it does nothing, another app may own the combination, so record a different one in Settings → Shortcuts (a conflict shows there). |
| Control 1 to Control 9 | Paste the pinned clip you gave that shortcut. Choose one from a clip’s menu, under Paste Shortcut. Pesto may offer one for a clip you paste often (Settings, General, Suggestions). Choosing it pins the clip. A shortcut you have not used for a while can be freed up. |
| Not set | Show or hide the floating window, Pause or resume capturing and Hide or show clip contents start without a shortcut. Record one in Settings → Shortcuts. |
| Command C twice | Add the second copy to the first. Off by default; turn it on in Settings → Shortcuts, under Copying. It needs Accessibility. |
| Command V | While Paste One by One is running, paste the next clip in any app. |
Paste As → Plain Text in a clip’s menu (Command K) does the same without a shortcut. If a shortcut does nothing, see A shortcut doesn’t work.
On the shelf
These work while the shelf is open.
| Keys | What they do |
|---|---|
| left arrow right arrow | Move between clips |
| Option left arrow Option right arrow or Page Up Page Down | Move a screenful of clips at a time |
| Return | Paste the focused clip. With two or more clips selected, start Paste One by One with them instead. |
| Shift Return | Paste the focused clip as plain text (text, code, links and colors). In search it pastes the focused result the same way. |
| Space | Select the focused clip |
| Delete or ⌦ | Delete the selected clips, or the focused one. Pesto asks first. (Context menu also shows Command Delete) |
| Esc | Go back one step: a prompt, Quick Look, the hover card or the selection, then the shelf |
| Command W | Close the shelf |
| Type | Search your clips |
| Home End | Jump to the first or the last clip. In search, Home End move the text cursor instead. |
| Command F | Search |
| Command A | Select every clip shown |
| Command 1 to Command 9 | Paste the clip in that position |
| Command Return | In search, ask Pesto. On a covered clip, show or hide it. |
| Command E | Show or hide the focused covered clip, in search or not |
| Command K | Open the focused clip’s actions, the same menu a right-click shows |
| Command C | Copy the focused clip to the clipboard without pasting (it moves to the front); with several text clips selected, copy them joined by a blank line as Paste All does; in the search field it copies the selected text |
| Command Y | Quick Look the focused clip (not for a covered or hidden one); Esc closes the preview and leaves the shelf open |
| Command left bracket Command right bracket | Switch collections |
| Command N | Add a collection |
| Command P | Paste the selected clips all at once, joined by a blank line |
| Shift Command P | Paste the selected clips one by one, one for each Command V |
| Command Z | Undo the last delete or change to a clip or collection (in search, only while the field is empty) |
| Shift Command Z | Redo what you undid |
| Command S | Save the focused picture to your Downloads folder (a covered or hidden picture is not saved) |
| Command comma | Open Settings |
| left arrow right arrow down arrow up arrow | In search, move through the results. Return pastes the focused one. Hold Command, Option or Shift with left arrow right arrow to move the text cursor instead. |
| Tab Shift Tab | In search, move through the filters (type, date, app, Sensitive). Return or Space turns the one you are on on or off, Esc goes back to the search field. |
With the mouse
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Click a clip | Focus it |
| Double click a clip | Paste it |
| Command-click or Shift-click | Select several clips |
| Drag a clip | Drop it into another app, or onto the Desktop or a Finder window, where text and pictures arrive as files |
| Click a clip in the floating window or the cursor menu | Paste it (the floating window copies it instead if you turned off Paste from the floating window) |
| Right-click a clip | Open its actions |
See Using Pesto for what each action does, and Settings for recording your own.
This guide matches Pesto as of October 29, 2026. App commit 70204d2.