How do I paste without formatting on a Mac in every app?

Use Cmd Option Shift V (Paste and Match Style) where supported, or remap paste in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts. A clipboard manager with paste transforms can also always paste plain text.

Can Cmd Shift V open clipboard history on a Mac?

Not natively — macOS has no clipboard history. Clipboard managers like Vee register ⌘⇧V globally and open your full copy history at the cursor.

Home › Blog › What Does Cmd Shift V Do on a Mac? (And What It Could Do)

What Does ⌘⇧V Do on a Mac?

Q: What does Cmd Shift V do on a Mac?

It depends on the app. In Google Docs, Slack and many editors, Cmd Shift V pastes without formatting. macOS itself assigns nothing to it system-wide — the system-wide plain-text paste is Cmd Option Shift V (Paste and Match Style).

Updated July 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: it depends on the app, because macOS itself doesn't assign ⌘⇧V to anything system-wide. That's also why it's such an interesting shortcut — it's prime keyboard real estate sitting mostly empty.

Where ⌘⇧V means "paste without formatting"

A number of big apps adopted ⌘⇧V as their plain-text paste, matching Ctrl+Shift+V from Windows and Chrome:

Google Docs / Sheets / Slides — paste without formatting
Slack, Discord, Notion, Figma, VS Code, Chrome — same idea, app by app
Microsoft Word — historically ⌘⇧V was "Paste Special"; recent versions vary

The catch: outside those apps, the shortcut does nothing — or something entirely different.

The actual system-wide shortcut: Paste and Match Style

Apple's official plain-text paste is the finger-twister ⌘⌥⇧V — Edit → Paste and Match Style. It works in most Apple apps and many third-party ones, and it doesn't strip formatting so much as adopt the destination's style. If an app lacks the menu item, the shortcut won't work there.

Make plain-text paste universal (no apps needed)

Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts.
Click +, leave "All Applications", type the menu title Paste and Match Style, assign ⌘V.
Now plain ⌘V pastes match-style everywhere the menu item exists; regular paste stays on ⌘⌥⇧V if you add it as a second shortcut.

The other thing ⌘⇧V can do: open your clipboard history

Since macOS leaves ⌘⇧V unclaimed, clipboard managers love it. Vee registers it globally: press it in any app and your full copy history opens at the text cursor — pick with arrows or ⌘1–⌘9, hit return, done. Vee Pro's paste transforms can also force any item to paste as trimmed or lowercased plain text, which quietly solves the formatting problem too. (New to the concept? Start with how clipboard history works on a Mac.)

Frequently asked questions

Why does ⌘⇧V do nothing in some apps?

Because no system-wide binding exists; only apps that implement it respond. In TextEdit, for instance, it's unassigned.

Is there a Windows-style Win+V clipboard on Mac?

Not built in. Windows added a native history panel on Win+V in 2018; on macOS the equivalent requires a clipboard manager.

Related guides

Try Vee — your clipboard, one V away

Vee keeps everything you copy and opens your history right at the cursor. Press ⌘⇧V, pick, paste. Free for text history, no account required.

Download Vee for macOS