Installation through troubleshooting, on one page. Choose your platform above.
Double-click clipraft.exe. There is no installer. When the icon appears in the tray, it is running. To start it with Windows, tick Autostart on Startup in the tray menu.
The first time Windows runs a new program it may show "Windows protected your PC", with Run anyway hidden behind More info. Click More info, then Run anyway. Once is enough.
The row of icons next to the clock at the bottom right. Yours may be collapsed behind the upward arrow. Left-clicking the icon fetches the latest content.
The tray menu holds: Sync Now, Find a Device, Add Device, Device List, Send File, Autostart on Startup, and Exit.
You pair once. Every device joining the group must be on the same Wi-Fi, or wired into the same router.
A pairing code is valid for five minutes. While the Add Device window is open, the same code adds several devices in a row.
Before swapping a device in, remove an unused one from the device list. Removal rotates the master key, so the removed device can no longer receive content. For more devices, use the commercial version and get in touch.
Once paired, nothing is required. Copy on one device and paste on another.
Press Ctrl+C anywhere and the content is pushed to the other devices in the group. Anything received goes straight onto your clipboard, ready for Ctrl+V.
| Text | 8 MB |
| Images | 32 MB |
The limit applies only when reading the clipboard. 1 MB of text copied on Windows arrives on a Mac; the same text copied on the Mac will not send.
Files are point-to-point, sent only to the device you select, rather than broadcast to the group the way clipboard content is.
Selecting several files works too; they queue and go one at a time.
Up to 4 GB per file.
Saved straight into the recipient's downloads folder, with no prompt. Name collisions are renamed, so report.pdf becomes report (2).pdf, and nothing is overwritten. A notification on completion opens the containing folder.
| Saved to | Downloads (%USERPROFILE%\Downloads) |
Several large transfers at once compete for bandwidth, so selecting multiple files queues them. During a transfer the menu gains Cancel Transfer; cancelling deletes the incomplete file on the other side immediately.
| Config | %APPDATA%\clipraft\ |
| Log | %APPDATA%\clipraft\clipraft.log |
Open the dmg and drag ClipRaft into Applications. The icon lives in the menu bar at the top right of the screen, not in the Dock.
The first launch reports that the developer cannot be verified. In Applications, hold Control, click ClipRaft, choose Open, then click Open again in the dialog. Once only.
Alternatively, go to System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
The row of icons at the top right, next to the clock. Left-clicking the icon fetches the latest content.
The menu holds: Sync Now, Find a Device, Add Device, Device List, Send File, Autostart on Startup, and Exit.
You pair once. Every device joining the group must be on the same Wi-Fi, or wired into the same router.
A pairing code is valid for five minutes. While the Add Device window is open, the same code adds several devices in a row.
Before swapping a device in, remove an unused one from the device list. Removal rotates the master key, so the removed device can no longer receive content. For more devices, use the commercial version and get in touch.
Once paired, nothing is required. Copy on one device and paste on another.
Press ⌘C anywhere and the content is pushed to the other devices in the group. Anything received goes straight onto your clipboard, ready for ⌘V.
| Text | 150 KB |
| Images | 8 MB |
The limit applies only when reading the clipboard. 1 MB of text copied on Windows arrives on a Mac; the same text copied on the Mac will not send.
Files are point-to-point, sent only to the device you select, rather than broadcast to the group the way clipboard content is.
Selecting several files works too; they queue and go one at a time.
Up to 4 GB per file.
macOS does not let an app enable this itself, so ClipRaft is missing from the Share menu right after you install it. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions › Sharing and tick ClipRaft. Once is enough. You can also click Edit Extensions… at the bottom of the right-click menu to jump straight there.
Saved straight into the recipient's downloads folder, with no prompt. Name collisions are renamed, so report.pdf becomes report (2).pdf, and nothing is overwritten. A notification on completion opens the containing folder.
| Saved to | Downloads (~/Downloads) |
Several large transfers at once compete for bandwidth, so selecting multiple files queues them. During a transfer the menu gains Cancel Transfer; cancelling deletes the incomplete file on the other side immediately.
macOS handles this through SMAppService, which requires the app to sit in the Applications folder. Installed anywhere else, the option reports a failure. It needs macOS 13 or later.
| Config | ~/Library/Application Support/clipraft/ |
| Log | ~/Library/Application Support/clipraft/clipraft.log |
Make the AppImage executable first: in your file manager, right-click › Properties › Allow executing file as program, or run chmod +x in a terminal. Then double-click it (some file managers need right-click › Run as a Program). There is no installer. When the icon appears in the tray, it is running.
On GNOME it sits in the top bar at the top right; on KDE, Xfce and others, at the right end of the taskbar. Click the icon to open the menu (right-click on KDE).
The menu holds: Sync Now, Send File, Add Device, Device List, Autostart on Startup, Help, and Exit. Before you join a group, it only has Settings.
You pair once. Every device joining the group must be on the same Wi-Fi, or wired into the same router.
A pairing code is valid for five minutes. While the Add Device window is open, the same code adds several devices in a row.
Before swapping a device in, remove an unused one from the device list. Removal rotates the master key, so the removed device can no longer receive content. For more devices, use the commercial version and get in touch.
Once paired, nothing is required. Copy on one device and paste on another.
Press Ctrl+C anywhere and the content is pushed to the other devices in the group. Anything received goes straight onto your clipboard, ready for Ctrl+V.
| Text | 8 MB |
| Images | 16 MB |
The limit applies only when reading the clipboard. 1 MB of text copied on Windows arrives on a Mac; the same text copied on the Mac will not send.
Files are point-to-point, sent only to the device you select, rather than broadcast to the group the way clipboard content is.
Up to 4 GB per file, one at a time.
Saved straight into the recipient's downloads folder, with no prompt. Name collisions are renamed, so report.pdf becomes report (2).pdf, and nothing is overwritten. A notification on completion opens the containing folder.
| Saved to | Your Downloads folder (the XDG download directory, usually ~/Downloads) |
Several large transfers at once compete for bandwidth, so selecting multiple files queues them. During a transfer the menu gains Cancel Transfer; cancelling deletes the incomplete file on the other side immediately.
Ubuntu ships the Ubuntu AppIndicators extension, usually enabled. On Fedora and others, install AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support, enable it in the Extensions app, then log out and back in. KDE, Xfce and Cinnamon show tray icons out of the box. GNOME switches the extension off while the screen is locked; the icon comes back when you unlock.
Add an option to open a window directly: --setup to create or join a group, --devices for the device list, --add-device to add a device, --manual-add to add one by IP. For example: ./clipraft-*.AppImage --setup.
Ticking it writes a launcher into ~/.config/autostart/ that points at where the AppImage is now. If you move the file, run it once from the new place to update it. Sway, Hyprland and similar window managers do not read that folder; set it up there yourself.
In a Wayland session the clipboard is read and written through XWayland, which GNOME and KDE run by default, so there is nothing to set up. Images are read as PNG only: a few programs copy images without a PNG version, and those will not sync. Images over about 16 MB cannot be read in full yet and are skipped.
The Linux build's device list does not have Find a Device yet. If a device cannot be found, the admin can click Add a Device Manually in the Add Device window and enter its IP; on other devices, start ClipRaft with --manual-add.
The default firewalls on desktop editions such as Ubuntu and Fedora Workstation do not get in the way. On systems that only allow ssh by default, such as Fedora Server, open TCP 8677 and UDP 8678.
| Config | ~/.config/clipraft/ |
| Log | ~/.config/clipraft/clipraft.log |
Installing an APK from a browser means allowing unknown apps once. Android prompts you at the moment you tap install; follow it through.
Open ClipRaft and tap Add to Quick Settings. On Android 13 and later the system shows a confirmation dialog and one tap is enough. On Android 12 and earlier, pull down, tap edit (the pencil), and drag ClipRaft up into the active row.
Without the tile you have to open the app every time you want to sync.
You pair once. Every device joining the group must be on the same Wi-Fi, or wired into the same router.
A pairing code is valid for five minutes. While the Add Device window is open, the same code adds several devices in a row.
Before swapping a device in, remove an unused one from the device list. Removal rotates the master key, so the removed device can no longer receive content. For more devices, use the commercial version and get in touch.
Copy on the computer, pull down Quick Settings on the phone, and tap ClipRaft. The content lands on your clipboard; long-press in a text field to paste.
In apps with a Share option, select text or an image, tap Share, and choose ClipRaft; then paste on the computer. In apps that only offer Copy, such as chat apps and maps, copy first, then pull down and tap ClipRaft to send it.
That is a design choice, and since Android 10 the system does not allow background clipboard reads either. Content sent from a computer waits on the computer until you pull down and fetch it.
| Text | 8 MB |
| Images | 32 MB |
The limit applies only when reading the clipboard. 1 MB of text copied on Windows arrives on a Mac; the same text copied on the Mac will not send.
Files are point-to-point, sent only to the device you select, rather than broadcast to the group the way clipboard content is.
Up to 50 MB per file, and keep the screen on while it transfers.
Saved straight into the recipient's downloads folder, with no prompt. Name collisions are renamed, so report.pdf becomes report (2).pdf, and nothing is overwritten. A notification on completion opens the containing folder.
| Saved to | Downloads. Open Files or Downloads to find them |
Several large transfers at once compete for bandwidth, so selecting multiple files queues them. During a transfer the menu gains Cancel Transfer; cancelling deletes the incomplete file on the other side immediately.
When you install an APK from a browser, Android says the source is not allowed. Tap Settings in that prompt, switch on Allow from this source for your browser, then go back and tap install again. You can switch it off afterwards.
| Config | The app's private storage (nothing for you to manage) |
| Log | Inside the app |
It is in App Store review. The instructions below describe how it will work, kept here for reference.
Install from the App Store.
Swipe down from the top right to open Control Center, enter edit mode, tap Add Control at the bottom, search for ClipRaft, and tap it. You can then press and hold to drag it where you want.
You pair once. Every device joining the group must be on the same Wi-Fi, or wired into the same router.
A pairing code is valid for five minutes. While the Add Device window is open, the same code adds several devices in a row.
Before swapping a device in, remove an unused one from the device list. Removal rotates the master key, so the removed device can no longer receive content. For more devices, use the commercial version and get in touch.
Copy on the computer, swipe down from the top right on the phone, and tap ClipRaft. The content lands on your clipboard; long-press in a text field to paste.
In apps with a Share option, select text or an image, tap Share, and choose ClipRaft; then paste on the computer. In apps that only offer Copy, such as chat apps and maps, copy first, then swipe down and tap ClipRaft to send it.
The system allows neither background clipboard reads nor long-lived apps. Content sent from a computer waits there until you pull down and fetch it. That is a system limitation, not a setting you can change.
Since iOS 16 the system no longer gives apps the name you gave your phone, so ClipRaft asks you for one. Without it, several devices all called iPhone are impossible to tell apart in the device list on your computer.
| Text | 8 MB |
| Images | 32 MB |
The limit applies only when reading the clipboard. 1 MB of text copied on Windows arrives on a Mac; the same text copied on the Mac will not send.
Files are point-to-point, sent only to the device you select, rather than broadcast to the group the way clipboard content is.
Up to 50 MB per file, and keep the screen on while it transfers.
Saved straight into the recipient's downloads folder, with no prompt. Name collisions are renamed, so report.pdf becomes report (2).pdf, and nothing is overwritten. A notification on completion opens the containing folder.
| Saved to | Files app → On My iPhone → ClipRaft |
Several large transfers at once compete for bandwidth, so selecting multiple files queues them. During a transfer the menu gains Cancel Transfer; cancelling deletes the incomplete file on the other side immediately.
| Config | The app's private storage (nothing for you to manage) |
| Log | Inside the app |
Work through these in order. The first step resolves most cases.
Some routers enable AP isolation (client isolation) by default, which hides devices on the same Wi-Fi from each other. Disable it in the router's admin page. Public Wi-Fi in hotels and airports usually has it on, and ClipRaft cannot work there.
Enterprise wireless often filters multicast, which breaks automatic discovery on large segments. Entering the IP manually still works.
The last request succeeded. Copied content is pushed straight across.
A phone in the background is suspended by the system and cannot receive a push. Both directions still work: the phone can send, and content from a computer is held until you pull down and fetch it. This is not a fault; phone systems do not allow apps to stay running.
This device's address has not been discovered. Click Find a Device, or enter it manually.
Content travels directly over the local network, end-to-end encrypted, through no server. No email address, phone number or name is collected, and there are no accounts. Logs record events and byte counts, never clipboard content.
Write to us with the system versions of the devices involved, what happened, and a screenshot.