# clipboardy > Access the system clipboard (copy/paste) Latest version **5.3.2** (published 2026-07-23) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install clipboardy pnpm add clipboardy yarn add clipboardy bun add clipboardy ``` ## Health **Score 70/100 (B)** — status: active. Positive: has types; esm support; no vulnerabilities; recently updated; high maintenance score; high quality score. Warnings: low downloads. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 5.3.2 | | Published | 2026-07-23 | | First published | 2016-12-04 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | bundled | | Module format | ESM | | Node | >=20 | | Dependencies | 6 | | Unpacked size | 854.7 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 1984 | | Author | Sindre Sorhus | | Maintainers | sindresorhus | | Keywords | clipboard, copy, paste, copy-paste, pasteboard, read, write, pbcopy, clip, xclip, xsel | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/clipboardy - Repository: https://github.com/sindresorhus/clipboardy - Homepage: https://github.com/sindresorhus/clipboardy#readme - Issues: https://github.com/sindresorhus/clipboardy/issues - Funding: https://github.com/sponsors/sindresorhus - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/clipboardy ## Dependencies (6) - [execa](https://npm.io/package/execa.md) ^9.6.1 - [is-wsl](https://npm.io/package/is-wsl.md) ^3.1.0 - [is64bit](https://npm.io/package/is64bit.md) ^2.0.0 - [is-wayland](https://npm.io/package/is-wayland.md) ^0.1.0 - [clipboard-image](https://npm.io/package/clipboard-image.md) ^0.1.0 - [powershell-utils](https://npm.io/package/powershell-utils.md) ^0.2.0 ## Alternatives - [csv-to-markdown-table](https://npm.io/package/csv-to-markdown-table.md) — 47.0K weekly downloads - [@sapphire/ratelimits](https://npm.io/package/@sapphire/ratelimits.md) — 4.4K weekly downloads - [js-csvparser](https://npm.io/package/js-csvparser.md) — 2.0K weekly downloads - [@adadapted/js-sdk](https://npm.io/package/@adadapted/js-sdk.md) — 251 weekly downloads - [@grapecity/spread-sheets-sparklines](https://npm.io/package/@grapecity/spread-sheets-sparklines.md) — 103 weekly downloads ## Recent versions - 5.3.2 (latest) — 2026-07-23 - 5.3.1 — 2026-02-24 - 5.3.0 — 2026-02-12 - 5.2.1 — 2026-02-03 - 5.2.0 — 2026-02-02 - 5.1.0 — 2026-01-25 - 5.0.2 — 2025-12-12 - 5.0.1 — 2025-11-20 - 5.0.0 — 2025-09-26 - 4.0.0 — 2023-10-23 - 3.0.0 — 2021-10-13 - 2.3.0 — 2020-03-19 - 2.2.0 — 2020-02-12 - 2.1.0 — 2019-06-15 - 2.0.0 — 2019-04-09 - … 15 more at https://npm.io/package/clipboardy/versions ## README # clipboardy > Access the system clipboard (copy/paste) Cross-platform. Supports: macOS, Windows, Linux (including Wayland), OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Android with [Termux](https://termux.com/), and [modern browsers](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Clipboard_API#Browser_compatibility). ## Install ```sh npm install clipboardy ``` ## Usage ```js import clipboard from 'clipboardy'; await clipboard.write('🦄'); await clipboard.read(); //=> '🦄' // Or use the synchronous API clipboard.writeSync('🦄'); clipboard.readSync(); //=> '🦄' ``` ## API **Browser usage:** Requires a [secure context](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Secure_Contexts) (HTTPS). Synchronous methods are not available in browsers. ### clipboard #### .write(text) Write (copy) to the clipboard asynchronously. Returns a `Promise`. ##### text Type: `string` The text to write to the clipboard. ```js await clipboard.write('🦄'); ``` #### .read() Read (paste) from the clipboard asynchronously. Returns a `Promise`. ```js const content = await clipboard.read(); //=> '🦄' ``` #### .writeSync(text) Write (copy) to the clipboard synchronously. **Doesn't work in browsers.** ##### text Type: `string` The text to write to the clipboard. ```js clipboard.writeSync('🦄'); ``` #### .readSync() Read (paste) from the clipboard synchronously. Returns a `string`. **Doesn't work in browsers.** ```js const content = clipboard.readSync(); //=> '🦄' ``` #### .writeImages(filePaths) Write (copy) images to the clipboard asynchronously. Returns a `Promise`. **Only supported on macOS.** On other platforms, this is a no-op. ##### filePaths Type: `string[]` The file paths of the images to write to the clipboard. Supports any image type that macOS supports, including PNG, JPEG, HEIC, WebP, and GIF. ```js await clipboard.writeImages(['/path/to/image.png']); ``` #### .readImages() Read images from the clipboard asynchronously. Returns a `Promise` with file paths to temporary PNG files. You are responsible for cleaning up the files. **Only supported on macOS.** On other platforms, this returns an empty array. ```js const filePaths = await clipboard.readImages(); ``` #### .hasImages() Check if the clipboard contains images. Returns a `Promise`. **Only supported on macOS.** On other platforms, this returns `false`. ```js const hasImages = await clipboard.hasImages(); ``` ## FAQ #### Does this work in headless Linux environments? No. Clipboard operations on Linux require a display server (X11 or Wayland). Headless environments like CI servers or Raspberry Pi without a desktop environment do not have a system clipboard. #### Where can I find the source of the bundled binaries? The [Linux binary](fallbacks/linux/xsel) is just a bundled version of [`xsel`](https://linux.die.net/man/1/xsel). The source for the [Windows binary](fallbacks/windows/clipboard_x86_64.exe) can be found [here](https://github.com/sindresorhus/win-clipboard). On Windows, clipboardy first tries the native PowerShell cmdlets (`Set-Clipboard`/`Get-Clipboard`) and falls back to the bundled binary if PowerShell is unavailable or restricted. #### Does this work on Wayland? Yes. On Linux, clipboardy automatically detects Wayland sessions and uses [`wl-clipboard`](https://github.com/bugaevc/wl-clipboard) when available. If not, it gracefully falls back to X11 tools. Also works with WSLg (Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI). Install `wl-clipboard` using your distribution's package manager. ## Related - [clipboard-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/clipboard-cli) - CLI for this module - [clipboard-image](https://github.com/sindresorhus/clipboard-image) - Get and set images on the clipboard - [copy-text-to-clipboard](https://github.com/sindresorhus/copy-text-to-clipboard) - Copy text to the clipboard in the browser --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/clipboardy · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. 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