How do I disable Universal Clipboard?

Question

Level 1

5 points

How do I disable Universal Clipboard?

Is there some way to turn off the universal clipboard feature without disabling all of handoff?

I'm really uncomfortable with Universal Clipboard silently and automatically copying clipboard data between my devices. I sometimes have very sensitive data on my clipboard, such as a password, and I want absolute control over where it goes. Even if it's just getting copied between my devices, and never touches Apple's servers, that not safe enough for me.

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 2:18 PM

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Answer 1

Snoop Dogg

Level 4

1,502 points

Sep 22, 2016 2:32 PM in response to mark_999

Sorry you're out of luck. Disabling Handoff is currently the only way to disable Universal Clipboard. Just so you know, your clipboard content is only copied to your other device once you paste on the other device. Your clipboard is NOT being constantly pushed to all your other devices.

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Answer 2

mark_999 Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 22, 2016 2:34 PM in response to Snoop Dogg

That's good to know, and it makes me feel a little better. I do wish Apple would publish some more technical information about this feature, though, and provide a way to turn it off. Thanks!

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Answer 3

dhjdhj

Level 2

194 points

Oct 14, 2016 8:49 PM in response to Snoop Dogg

What happens if you copy something to the clipboard on your Mac and then turn your Mac off and THEN paste on the other device? Does that work? If so, then the contents of the clipboard are getting copied somewhere in the interim.

I've also noted that a daemon called keyboardservicesd keeps trying to contact Apple servers. What's that for? Can I turn it off through launchcontrol (say)?