Download RealtimeClipboard
You do not need any of this. RealtimeClipboard runs in a browser tab on every device you own, and that is the whole product. The desktop app adds one thing the browser cannot do at all: it notices what you copy while you are working somewhere else.
Desktop — Windows, macOS, Linux
The desktop app is a window around the same page, plus a small native helper that watches the system clipboard. That helper is the reason it exists: copy in any application and it is already on your other devices before you switch to them.
It reads every copy you make while it is running. That is what you are installing. It never writes any of it to disk, and it is encrypted before it leaves the machine — but if you would rather it only sent what you choose, switch it to Manual in the settings, which is the default on desktop for exactly this reason.
Windows 10 & 11
Download the installer.msi · 64-bit · about 10 MB
Or with a package manager:
winget install RealtimeClipboard.RealtimeClipboardscoop install realtimeclipboardBackground clipboard capture: yes
macOS 11 and later
Download the app.dmg · Intel and Apple Silicon
Or with Homebrew:
brew install --cask realtimeclipboardBackground clipboard capture: yes
Linux
Download.deb, .rpm and AppImage
Or from a repository:
flatpak install flathub io.github.akshaynikhare.RealtimeClipboardyay -S realtimeclipboardBackground capture: yes on X11, and on Wayland under KDE and wlroots. GNOME on Wayland has no clipboard-monitoring portal, so there the app falls back to capturing when you focus it — and says so in its status bar rather than pretending.
Android, iPhone and iPad
There is no app to install, and that is a deliberate decision rather than a gap. Neither platform lets any app read the clipboard in the background — Android restricted it in version 10, and iOS has never allowed it. A native app could therefore offer a share-sheet button and a store listing, and nothing else that the page you are reading this on cannot already do.
So add it to your home screen instead. It gets its own icon and window, and works offline.
Android & ChromeOS
- Open the app in Chrome.
- Menu → Add to Home screen, or tap the install prompt.
Background clipboard capture: not possible — long-press and paste into the app, or copy from it.
iPhone & iPad
- Open the app in Safari. Chrome on iOS cannot install it.
- Tap Share → Add to Home Screen.
Background clipboard capture: not possible. iOS also shows a paste banner every time an app reads the clipboard, which is Apple's decision and not something any app can turn off.
Servers, SSH and scripts
A command-line client, for the machines that have no clipboard at all. It speaks the same protocol and the same encryption as the browser — it imports the very same files — so a clip sent from a server appears on your laptop like any other.
npx realtimeclipboard D75LVWhat it is for
# pipe something in
echo "deploy key" | npx realtimeclipboard send D75LV
# take the next clip and stop
npx realtimeclipboard watch D75LV --once > token.txt
# from a box you are ssh'd into
ssh build-01 'cat /var/log/deploy.log' | npx realtimeclipboard send D75LVNeeds Node 22 or newer. Also installable with
brew install realtimeclipboard, or as a standalone binary from
the releases page
for machines with no Node at all.
Run your own relay
The relay carries encrypted clips between devices. It never sees anything but a room hash and ciphertext, and it stores nothing — but you do not have to take that on trust, because you can run it yourself. It is one Python file with no database.
docker run -p 8000:8000 ghcr.io/akshaynikhare/realtimeclipboard-relayWith TLS and a real hostname, use deploy/docker-compose.yml; for Kubernetes there is a Helm chart in the same directory. Then point the app at it under Settings → Relay. If you are deploying this across an organisation, read the self-hosting notes first — particularly the part about pinning replicas.
Every platform, written out at more length, with the reasons behind the limitations: the installation guide.