How to copy and paste between an Android phone and a Mac

Copy on Android, paste on Mac

1. Get the app on your phone. Install UniClip from Google Play or the App Store and sign in with Google or Apple.
2. Link the computer. Open the web app in any browser, then in the phone app go to Settings, Linked devices, Link a computer and scan the QR code it shows. Nothing to install, no password to type.
3. Send the text from Android. Select it in any app, tap the ⋮ menu next to Copy and Share, and choose Copy to Universal Clipboard.
4. Copy it on the computer. The clip shows up in the web app. Click it to copy, then paste it where you need it.

It goes over the internet, so the phone and the Mac don’t need to be near each other or on the same Wi-Fi. Paste on the Mac with Cmd + V.

Copy on Mac, paste on Android

1. Send from the computer. Paste or type into the web app’s box and press Send. The clip is on your phone a moment later.
2. Tap it on the other device. Open the app there and tap the clip. It is on that device’s clipboard, ready to paste. On Pro, a notification with Copy Now does it without opening the app.

With the Chrome extension, you can also select text on any page and right-click Copy to Universal Clipboard. On Free, clips of up to 200 characters reach all your devices and disappear after 1 minute. Pro keeps every clip until you delete it, in a searchable history on every device.

Why there is no built-in way

Apple’s Universal Clipboard runs on Handoff, which needs every device on the same Apple Account, so an Android phone can never join. Android 10 and later stop apps from reading the clipboard unless they are the keyboard or the app on screen, so no app can quietly mirror an Android clipboard to a Mac: you send what you want on purpose.

Other ways, and where they fall short

• KDE Connect. Free and open source, with a Mac app. The phone and the Mac must be on the same network, and Android 10 and later don’t let it read the clipboard in the background, so on the phone you send the clipboard by hand from the app or its notification.
• Chrome’s Send to your devices. Opens the page you are on in Chrome on your other device, when both are signed in to the same Google Account. It sends pages, not text you copied.
• Message or email yourself. Works anywhere, but on the other device you have to find the message, select the text and copy it again, and the chat fills up with old links and codes.
• AirDrop and Quick Share. They send files and photos, not what you copied.

Questions

Does Apple’s Universal Clipboard work between Android and Mac?

No. It needs every device signed in to the same Apple Account with Handoff on, so it only works between Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro.

Do I need to install anything on the Mac?

No. The web app runs in any modern browser. The Chrome extension is optional, for sending selected text from any page with a right-click.

Do the phone and the Mac need to be on the same Wi-Fi?

Not with UniClip, which goes over the internet on any Wi-Fi or mobile data. KDE Connect does need both on the same network.

Can I send photos and files from Android to a Mac?

Yes: photos and files of up to 1 MB each, one at a time, on Free, and up to 10 MB each (2 GB in all), 10 at a time, with Pro — from the paperclip, the share sheet or by pasting.