Install

The easiest path on macOS is the official Homebrew tap.

brew tap UniClipboard/tap

# Homebrew 6.0+ requires trusting third-party taps before it loads their
# formulae/casks — otherwise you'll see "Refusing to load ... from
# untrusted tap". This only needs to run once.
brew trust UniClipboard/tap

# Desktop app (the .app bundle)
brew install --cask uniclipboard

# Or, just the CLI — installs the `uniclip` command
brew install uniclipboard

Or install in a single command without tapping first (still trust the tap once):

brew trust UniClipboard/tap                          # Homebrew 6.0+, one-time
brew install --cask UniClipboard/tap/uniclipboard    # GUI
brew install UniClipboard/tap/uniclipboard           # CLI

The cask and the formula can coexist — install both if you want the GUI plus the uniclip command for terminal flows.

Prefer to download the installer manually? Grab the latest .dmg from the Releases page and drag the app into /Applications.

First-launch permissions

macOS may ask for Input Monitoring when UniClipboard registers the global Quick Panel shortcut. Grant it under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring, then quit and reopen the app.

Accessibility is separate and optional: it is required only when you enable the Quick Panel's modifier double-tap trigger. UniClipboard does not request it in the background. The setting shows an explicit button that opens Privacy & Security → Accessibility; grant access there, then return to the app. Clipboard sync itself does not require Accessibility.

Windows comes in two forms: an installer (NSIS, recommended for most people) and a portable build (no install). Both cover x64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Windows on ARM).

Installer (NSIS)

Download UniClipboard_<version>_<arch>-setup.exe (<arch> is x64 or arm64) and click through the standard flow. It places Start Menu shortcuts and registers an entry under Settings → Apps for clean uninstall.

The installer is code-signed.

Portable build

Want to skip installation or carry the app on a USB stick? Use the portable build. Download UniClipboard_<version>_<arch>-portable.zip, unzip it, and double-click UniClipboard.exe — no install, no registry writes, no traces in the system directories.

• Data lives next to the app. Everything (encrypted database, keys, search index, logs) is stored in a data folder created next to UniClipboard.exe. Move the whole folder (exe + portable.dat + data) to carry your setup; delete data to reset.
• portable.dat is the switch. This marker file in the zip is what enables portable mode. Remove it and the app reverts to storing data under %LOCALAPPDATA%\app.uniclipboard.desktop\ like the installed version.
• Pick the right arch. The arm64 zip is for Windows on ARM devices (e.g. Surface Pro X); the x64 zip is for regular Intel/AMD PCs.

Download the installer or portable zip from the Releases page.

Each release ships .deb, .rpm, and .AppImage artifacts for both x86_64 and aarch64. Pick the channel that fits your distribution:

Fedora / RHEL / openSUSE — recommended: COPR

Install via Fedora COPR and dnf upgrade will track new releases automatically:

# Alpha channel (includes pre-releases, updated more often)
sudo dnf copr enable mkdir700/uniclipboard-alpha
sudo dnf install uniclipboard

# Stable channel (final releases only)
sudo dnf copr enable mkdir700/uniclipboard
sudo dnf install uniclipboard

See the COPR deployment notes for project setup details.

Ubuntu / Debian / older distros — recommended: Snap

The Snap is built with strict confinement on core22 and bundles its own GTK + WebKit stack, so it runs the same on Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, RHEL 9, openSUSE Leap, and similar.

# Stable channel (final releases, amd64 + arm64)
sudo snap install uniclipboard

# Edge channel (includes pre-releases, updated more often)
sudo snap install uniclipboard --edge

After installing, grant the snap permission to read/write the system keyring (GNOME Keyring / KWallet), so the daemon can store its long-lived identity key there:

sudo snap connect uniclipboard:password-manager-service

Skipping this step is not fatal — the daemon falls back to a file-based Key Encryption Key under the snap's data directory and will start either way (look for System secure storage probe failed; falling back to file-based KEK in the logs). Connecting the plug just moves the KEK into the OS-managed keyring, which is what other system applications already use.

password-manager-service is not auto-connect at install time; once the auto-connect request lands on the snap store this command will become unnecessary for new installs.

Don't have snapd? See the Snapcraft install guide for your distribution.

Any distro — AppImage

An AppImage is also published with each release. Download it from the Releases page, mark it executable, and run it:

chmod +x UniClipboard_<version>_amd64.AppImage
./UniClipboard_<version>_amd64.AppImage

AppImage is the only Linux format the in-app updater supports — packages installed via COPR / Snap / dpkg do not auto-update from inside the app; use your package manager instead.

One-shot install of a single .deb / .rpm

Prefer not to add a repo? Download a single package from Releases:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dpkg -i uniclipboard_<version>_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f                                 # resolve missing deps if any

# Fedora / RHEL / openSUSE (one-shot, no COPR)
sudo dnf install ./UniClipboard-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm

Headless / server install (CLI only)

For servers, SSH sessions, or anything without a desktop, install just the uniclip CLI from Releases — look for the uniclip-<version>-<arch> artefact (statically linked against musl). The CLI runs the daemon in-process, so no GUI is required.