Use case · Mac to Windows clipboard
Without uploading to a cloud, emailing yourself, or running a server.
UniClipboard is the most direct way to move content between a Mac and a Windows PC — text, images, or files. Press ⌘C on the Mac, then Ctrl+V on Windows, and the content arrives. It is open source, end-to-end encrypted, requires no cloud account, and works on the same Wi-Fi peer-to-peer or across different networks via NAT hole-punching with an encrypted relay fallback.
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TL;DR
Why workarounds break
Emailing yourself a snippet routes the content through a third-party server, costs you a tab switch, and breaks if the snippet is binary. Self-DMs in Slack or WeChat work but the content is stored on someone else's server and pasting an image often loses formatting. Uploading a file to OneDrive or Google Drive solves the file case but means waiting for sync — and gives the cloud provider another copy of your data. Each of these hacks asks you to trade speed for security, or security for speed.
What UniClipboard does
UniClipboard turns the Mac and Windows machines into a single shared clipboard. ⌘C on the Mac places the content into the system clipboard; UniClipboard immediately pushes the encrypted bytes to the Windows side; Ctrl+V on Windows pastes it. There is no upload, no third-party server in the path, no menu to open, no permission prompt per copy. Each device keeps its own searchable encrypted history, so you can also page back through earlier copies.
Approaches
| What you care about | UniClipboard | Cloud / chat / email workarounds |
|---|---|---|
| Latency | Instant — same keystroke | Seconds to minutes (upload + download) |
| Security | End-to-end encrypted, open source | Content sits on a third-party server |
| Account / login | None — public-key device pairing | Account required for every service |
| Files | Streaming transfer, no size cap from us | Subject to provider attachment limits |
| Searchable history | Encrypted local index per device | Search whatever inbox / chat you used |
| Works offline | Yes — same Wi-Fi P2P | No — needs the cloud service |
| Different Wi-Fi networks | NAT hole-punching + encrypted relay | Works as long as the cloud is reachable |
Comparison reflects publicly documented behaviour as of 2026-05.
How to set it up
Verdict
If you only ever need to send a single short snippet from your Mac to your Windows machine, the chat self-DM works. For everything else — repeated copies, images, files, content you don't want sitting on a third-party server, or anything that needs to feel as fast as the system clipboard — UniClipboard is what you want.
FAQ
Regular Ctrl+V. UniClipboard places the content into the Windows system clipboard, so any app that accepts a paste accepts UniClipboard's content.
Yes. UniClipboard performs NAT hole-punching to establish a direct connection, and falls back to an encrypted relay when direct connection fails. Either way the content stays end-to-end encrypted.
Yes. Files are transferred with streaming so they never have to fit entirely in memory. Drop a file onto the clipboard on one device and paste it on the other.
Only when it has to. If both devices are on the same Wi-Fi, the transfer is direct peer-to-peer. If they are on different networks, UniClipboard tries NAT hole-punching first; only when that fails does it fall back to an encrypted relay — and the relay only ever sees ciphertext.
Both. UniClipboard supports Windows 10 and Windows 11 (x64). On the Mac side, macOS 12 (Monterey) and later are supported.
Yes. The clipboard is bidirectional and symmetric. ⌘V on the Mac will receive whatever was last copied on the Windows side, and vice versa.
Get UniClipboard
macOS 12+, Windows 10/11. No account, no email, no setup beyond the one-time pairing.