Using ClipDeck

ClipDeck is a simple app for Mac, iPhone and iPad that keeps the text you use again and again ready to copy. Hex colours, email addresses, phone numbers, links, code snippets, AI prompts, email replies – whatever you find yourself searching for, ClipDeck keeps it organised and one click (or tap) away.

Find the card you need, click it, and its text is on your clipboard, ready to paste. No searching through old documents. No highlighting. Just click, copy and paste.

How ClipDeck is organised

ClipDeck stores your text in folders and cards.

A folder holds related cards – for example, one folder per client, website, brand or workflow.
A card holds one piece of text you want to copy, with a title so you can recognise it, plus optional tags and a colour.
A smart folder gathers cards from all of your folders automatically, using filters you choose, such as tags, colours or text. The cards stay where they are.
Tags are listed in the sidebar (on iPhone and iPad, on the Folders screen), so you can see every card with a tag in one place.

Pin the cards you use most to keep them at the top, and use widgets, Control Centre or Shortcuts to reach them in one tap. With iCloud, your folders and cards stay in sync across your Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Creating a folder

Mac: click New Folder at the top of the sidebar (or press Command-N), then give the folder a name.
iPhone and iPad: tap + at the top right of the Folders screen, then give the folder a name.

For example: North & Pine Website, AI Prompts, Email Replies or My Details. To make a smart folder instead, turn on Make into Smart Folder – see Smart folders below.

Creating a card

Open a folder, then:

Mac: click New Card (or press Shift-Command-N).
iPhone and iPad: tap + at the top right.

Give the card a clear title and add the text you want to copy. You can also add tags and choose a colour.

For example, a card called Primary Colour containing #392571, or a card called Meeting Follow-up containing a full email reply.

Tip: if a card contains hex colour codes such as #E63946, ClipDeck shows a small colour swatch next to each code.

Copying a card

This is what ClipDeck is for.

Mac: click anywhere on the card.
iPhone and iPad: tap the card.

The card’s text is copied straight to your clipboard. A Copied message appears and the card is briefly outlined in green so you know it worked. Switch to any app and paste (Command-V on a Mac, or touch and hold, then Paste on iPhone and iPad).

You can also copy cards from a widget, Control Centre or Shortcuts. See Widgets, Control Centre and Shortcuts below.

Colours

Give a card a colour so you can spot it at a glance: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple or grey – or no colour.

Searching

Use the search field to find cards by title, text or tag. Choose This Folder to search the folder you’re in, or All Folders to search everything. When searching all folders, each card shows which folder it’s in.

Spotlight

ClipDeck adds your cards to Spotlight, so you can find them without opening the app first. Search for a card’s title, tag or folder name in Spotlight, then choose the result to open that card’s folder in ClipDeck. (Card text isn’t added to Spotlight, so it stays private.)

On iPhone and iPad

ClipDeck works the same way on iPhone and iPad: tap a folder to open it, tap a card to copy it, and use the search field at the bottom of the screen to search this folder or all folders. On iPad, and on iPhone in landscape, cards are shown in a grid.

Swipe right on a card to pin or unpin it.
Swipe left on a card for Edit and Delete.
Touch and hold a card for more options: Copy, Edit, Lock Card, Pin, Duplicate, Duplicate to, Move to and Delete.
Tap Sort at the top of a folder to change the order of your cards, switch between Cards and List, and show or hide tags on cards.

Pinning cards

Pin the cards you use most and they stay at the top of their folder, in a Pinned section, with a small orange pin next to the title.

Mac: hover over a card and click the pin button, or right-click the card and choose Pin Card.
iPhone and iPad: swipe right on the card, or touch and hold it and choose Pin.

Do the same again to unpin a card. The ClipDeck widget shows your pinned cards (unless you choose a folder for it), and the Copy Card control lets you pick from them, so pin the cards you want close at hand. If you’d rather pinned cards weren’t moved to the top, turn off Pinned at Top in the Sort menu.

Sorting cards and changing the view

Use the Sort menu at the top of a folder to choose the order of your cards:

Manual – the order you’ve arranged them in (the only order in which you can drag cards around).
Name – alphabetical by title.
Date Created and Date Edited – newest first.
Most Copied – the cards you copy most come first.

You can also switch between Cards and List. On a Mac, use the two buttons next to Sort; on iPhone and iPad, choose View As in the Sort menu. List view is handy for folders with lots of cards.

Smart folders

A smart folder shows cards from all of your folders that match filters you choose – for example, every card tagged instagram, every card containing a hex colour, or the cards you copy most. The cards stay in their own folders; a smart folder simply gathers them together and keeps itself up to date.

To make one, create a new folder and turn on Make into Smart Folder, then add one or more filters. Choose whether cards should match all of your filters or any of them:

Tags – cards with all or any of the tags you pick, cards with any tag, or untagged cards only.
Colour – cards of a particular colour.
Folder – cards in a particular folder.
Contains – cards containing a link, a hex colour, an email address or a phone number.
Text Contains – cards containing words you type.
Pinned – cards that are, or aren’t, pinned.
Copied – cards copied recently, copied more than a certain number of times, or never copied.
Date Created and Date Edited – cards created or changed in the last few days.

To change a smart folder, right-click it in the sidebar and choose Edit Smart Folder… (Mac), or open it and tap Edit Smart Folder (iPhone and iPad). Deleting a smart folder never deletes any cards.

Locked cards

Lock a card to hide its text until you unlock it with Touch ID or Face ID (or your Mac password or device passcode). A locked card shows a padlock instead of its text – handy for things like a door code or the office Wi-Fi password.

To lock a card: on a Mac, right-click it (or click its ⋯ button) and choose Lock Card. On iPhone and iPad, touch and hold it and choose Lock Card.
To copy a locked card: click or tap it as usual, then unlock it – the text is copied straight away.
To remove the lock: choose Remove Lock. You’ll be asked to unlock the card first.

Locked cards never appear in widgets, and if you try to copy one with Shortcuts or Siri, ClipDeck asks you to open the app and unlock it. ClipDeck isn’t a password manager, so keep important passwords in Apple’s Passwords app.

Widgets, Control Centre and Shortcuts

Your pinned cards are never more than a tap away.

Widgets: add the ClipDeck Cards widget to your Home Screen on iPhone and iPad, or to your desktop or Notification Centre on a Mac. It shows your pinned cards – or a folder or smart folder you choose. On a Mac, click a card in the widget to copy it straight away. On iPhone and iPad, tapping a card opens ClipDeck, which copies the card and highlights it in its folder (iOS only lets apps use the clipboard while they're open). To change what the widget shows, touch and hold it (or right-click it on a Mac) and choose Edit Widget.
Control Centre (iPhone and iPad, iOS 18 or later): add the Copy Card control to Control Centre and choose one of your pinned cards. Tap the control to open ClipDeck and copy that card.
Shortcuts and Siri: ClipDeck adds Copy Card and Open Folder actions to the Shortcuts app, so you can use them in your own shortcuts. You can also ask Siri – for example, “Copy Email Signature with ClipDeck” or “Open AI Prompts in ClipDeck”. On iPhone and iPad, Copy Card opens ClipDeck to copy the card – just like the widget – and also passes the card's text to the next step of your shortcut.

Editing, duplicating, moving and deleting cards

Mac: hover over a card and click its ⋯ button, or right-click the card.
iPhone and iPad: touch and hold the card. You can also swipe left on a card for Edit and Delete.

From there you can:

Edit – change the title, text, tags or colour.
Duplicate – make a copy in the same folder.
Duplicate to – copy the card into another folder.
Move to – move the card into another folder.
Delete – move the card to Recently Deleted.

Recently Deleted

Deleted cards go to Recently Deleted, below your folders, and stay there for 30 days, so you can get them back if you change your mind. After 30 days they’re deleted for good. Each card shows how many days it has left.

To get a card back: on a Mac, right-click it and choose Recover. On iPhone and iPad, swipe right on it and tap Recover. The card goes back into its folder.
To delete a card straight away: choose Delete Now (Mac), or swipe left and tap Delete (iPhone and iPad). Delete All empties Recently Deleted in one go – this can’t be undone.

Reordering folders and cards

Mac: drag folders up and down in the sidebar. To reorder cards, choose Manual in the Sort menu, then drag a card onto the card whose place you want it to take.
iPhone: choose Manual in the Sort menu, tap Edit, then drag folders or cards using their handles.
iPad (and iPhone in landscape): cards appear in a grid. Choose Manual in the Sort menu, tap Reorder, then drag cards by their handle.

Renaming and deleting folders

Mac: right-click a folder in the sidebar and choose Rename… or Delete…
iPhone and iPad: swipe left on a folder, or touch and hold it, to delete it.

When you delete a folder, its cards move to Recently Deleted for 30 days, so you can still get them back.

Syncing with iCloud

ClipDeck uses iCloud to keep your folders, cards and smart folders up to date on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. There’s no ClipDeck account to set up – just make sure each device is signed in to the same Apple Account with iCloud turned on. Changes usually appear on your other devices within a few moments.

If your cards aren’t syncing, check that:

each device is signed in to the same Apple Account;
iCloud is turned on and the device is connected to the internet;
you have some free iCloud storage.

Importing and exporting (Mac)

On a Mac, you can save your cards as a CSV file – handy for backups or for editing in a spreadsheet – and import them again.

Export: choose Export Current Folder as CSV… or Export All Folders as CSV… from the File menu or the Import and Export button in the toolbar. You can also right-click a folder and choose Export as CSV…
Import: choose Import CSV… from the same menus and select a ClipDeck CSV file. Imported folders are added as new folders, with “(Imported)” after their name, so nothing you already have is changed.

Cards you import on your Mac sync to your iPhone and iPad through iCloud.

What can I store in ClipDeck?

Anything text-based that you regularly copy and paste, such as:

Hex, RGB or other colour values
Email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses
Website links and social media links
Code snippets, CSS and terminal commands
AI prompts and reusable instructions
Email replies, website copy and calls to action
Product information and reference numbers

If you regularly find yourself searching for the same piece of text, it’s a good candidate for a card.

Tips

Create folders around your work – one folder per client, website or job makes things easy to find.
Give cards clear titles – names like Primary Brand Colour or Main Phone Number are easy to spot at a glance.
Pin your favourites – pinned cards stay at the top, and they’re the ones the widget and Control Centre show.
Let smart folders do the sorting – for example, one smart folder for every card tagged brand, wherever it lives.
Keep it simple – ClipDeck isn’t a notes app or a password manager. It does one job: getting the text you need onto your clipboard as quickly as possible.

Requirements

Mac: macOS 14 Sonoma or later
iPhone and iPad: iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 or later (the Control Centre button needs iOS 18 or later)

Need help? Email clipdeck.support@gmail.com.

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