Copy and paste from my phone to my Mac is not working: what should I check?

First work out which phone you have, because the causes are different. With an iPhone, Apple's Universal Clipboard needs the same Apple Account on both devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Handoff turned on, and the devices near each other. With an Android phone there is no built-in clipboard link to a Mac at all, so "not working" usually means a third-party tool is blocked by Android's own clipboard rules or by the network. The checks below take about five minutes each.

Publisher note: The Relay publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Details about other products come from each maker's own pages, checked on 26 October 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm before you buy.

Which phone are you using?

iPhone: why has Universal Clipboard stopped?

Apple's Universal Clipboard page lists the conditions. Check each one on both devices.

1. Your devices are near each other.
2. Each device is signed in with the same Apple Account.
3. Each device has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
4. Each device has Handoff turned on. Apple says it is on by default.

To check Handoff on the Mac, Apple's Handoff page says to open System Settings, click General, click AirDrop & Continuity (or AirDrop & Handoff), and turn on "Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices." On the iPhone, it is under Settings, General, then AirPlay & Continuity.

If every condition holds, Apple's troubleshooting steps are to install any available software updates, restart both devices, and confirm the setup again. The clipboard is also short-lived: Apple says copied content stays "briefly, or until something new is copied on either device". Paste soon after you copy.

Android: is it the phone or the Mac that is the problem?

Start with the rule that catches most people. Google's Android 10 privacy page says that unless an app is the default keyboard or the app that currently has focus, "your app cannot access clipboard data on Android 10 or higher." A tool that works in the background has to work around that, and some need an extra tap. KDE Connect's documentation says Android 10 "makes the clipboard plugin in KDE Connect uncomfortable to use", and that on Android 10 and later the notification has a Send Clipboard button. It also says clipboard sharing "does not work with images".

So for KDE Connect, these are the checks.

1. After copying on the phone, pull down the notification and tap Send Clipboard.
2. Make sure the two devices are on the same network, per KDE's page, and that no firewall blocks them. The page says KDE Connect uses ports 1714 to 1764 for UDP and TCP.
3. Copy text, not an image, since images do not sync through KDE Connect's clipboard.

For the direction from the Mac to the phone, KDE's page says text copied on the computer is "immediately available to paste on your phone."

What if it fails in only one direction?

This fits Google's rule above: reading the clipboard on the phone is restricted, and KDE's page says text copied on the computer is available on the phone at once. If Mac-to-phone works and phone-to-Mac does not, you are looking at that restriction, not a broken connection. See copy on a Mac, paste on Android and copy an image on Android and paste on a Mac.

What if it never worked?

Two things to rule out. Apple's page lists no Android support, so check that you installed a tool on both devices. And if your tool needs both devices on the same Wi-Fi network, as KDE Connect does, a guest network or a router that isolates devices will stop them seeing each other. Test with a simple link instead: Google's Chrome page describes Send to your devices and a QR code, which prove the phone and Mac can at least exchange something.

Where does The Relay fit?

The Relay's clipboard sync copies text, images, and links in both directions between an Android phone and a Mac, and it is built for this job. If it stops working, check these basics: both devices on the same Wi-Fi network (or within Bluetooth range), both apps open, and that the phone on Android 8.0 or later with a Mac on macOS 13 Ventura or later. It does not work across the internet when the phone is somewhere else.

If those checks do not fix it, contact us at /contact. The Relay is one subscription through Google Play that covers your phone and your Mac, with a 7-day free trial at /download. If your phone is an iPhone, this is not the tool for you: Universal Clipboard is.

Questions people ask

Why can I paste from my Mac to my Android phone but not the other way?

Android 10 and later limits which apps can read the clipboard. Phone-to-Mac needs a tool to read it, which is the restricted direction.

Does Universal Clipboard work between an Android phone and a Mac?

No. Apple's page lists Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. See what is Universal Clipboard.

Why does paste give me the old thing I copied?

Apple says Universal Clipboard content stays briefly or until something new is copied on either device. If you copied on a second device in between, the newer item wins.

Do I need Bluetooth for it to work?

For Apple's feature, yes: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi must both be on. For Android tools, check the tool's own page.