Junk Yard

The Junk Yard is Storage Studio's clipboard history and quick-notes board: it catches what you copy (text, links, images, files), shows each as a card you can copy back, and clears scraps on a timer so nothing piles up.

No. The Junk Yard is a clipboard history and quick-notes board, not a cleaner. It never scans for or deletes files on your Mac; to free up space, use Storage Studio's clean-up and moving tools.

Click the Junk Yard tab in Storage Studio, press the global shortcut (⌃⇧J by default) from anywhere, or move your pointer to the screen edge to slide out the curtain.

A scrap is one item on the Junk Yard board — something you copied or a note, image or file you added. Each shows as a card with its own auto-clear countdown.

Yes. With Watch the clipboard on, everything you copy lands on the Junk Yard as a card you can copy back later. It adds quick notes, search, pins and colours, and clears scraps on a timer.

The "junk" is the throwaway snippets you copy all day. The Junk Yard holds them for a while and clears them on a timer; it has nothing to do with junk files on your disk.

No. The Junk Yard is for temporary scraps: every scrap clears on a timer (6 months at most), the oldest drops off when the board is full, and cleared scraps can't be recovered. Save important things elsewhere.

The Junk Yard tab sits in the top row of Storage Studio, right after Apps (Home | Apps | Junk Yard). If it's missing, turn on Enable Junk Yard on this Mac in Settings → Junk Yard.

A brief green blink of the dot in the menu bar means the Junk Yard just caught something you copied and saved it as a new scrap.

The Recycle Vault is Storage Studio's recoverable trash for files it removes; the Junk Yard is a clipboard and notes board. Deleted scraps don't go to the Recycle Vault.

Tuhi is Storage Studio's on-device storage assistant you ask questions; the Junk Yard is a board for your copies and quick notes. Both keep their smart features on your Mac.

With Watch the clipboard on, everything you copy — text and rich text, images, web links, and files or folders — lands as a card. Passwords and very large multi-file copies are skipped on purpose.

No. Anything copied from a password manager, or marked by an app as secret or temporary, is skipped on purpose — it never lands on the board or gets shared to your other devices.

The Junk Yard keeps a reference to a copied file or folder — not a second copy. The card shows its icon and name, and copying the card back gives you the real file to paste.

Yes. Click the file's card or its Copy button and the actual file goes on your clipboard, ready to paste into Finder, an email or a chat with ⌘V — as long as the original still exists.

Several files copied together land as one card. Up to four show on the card; with more you open it to see the list, Copy all, or open, copy or show in Finder any one file.

A single copy with more files than the multi-file limit (25 by default) is skipped to keep the board quick. Raise it in Settings → Junk Yard, up to 250, then copy the files again.

In Settings → Junk Yard, use Capture a multi-file copy of up to. It goes from 5 to 250 files in steps of five (25 by default); bigger copies are skipped, not cut short.

Yes. A copied image or screenshot lands as an image card with a thumbnail you can preview and copy back, and the words inside it become searchable.

Yes. Rich text keeps its formatting on the board and when you copy it back; apps that only take plain text get the words. Rich scraps appear under the Rich filter.

Yes. Copied web addresses become link cards — click to open in your browser, or use Copy to paste the address. They're grouped under the Links filter.

Turn off Watch the clipboard in Settings → Junk Yard. You can still add scraps yourself or save one copy at a time with the Save clipboard to Junk shortcut (⌥⇧C by default).

Capturing is the master switch for saving what you copy on this Mac. Off means nothing you copy becomes a scrap, regardless of Watch the clipboard. It's independent of Sharing.

Press the Save clipboard to Junk shortcut (⌥⇧C by default) and whatever is on your clipboard is added as a scrap — ideal when automatic capture is off.

No. A copy identical to your most recent one isn't added again, so pressing ⌘C twice won't create duplicates. Copy something else in between and it will be saved again.

No. Copying a scrap from the Junk Yard puts it on your clipboard without capturing it again; only copies from other apps (and saved edits) become new scraps.

Yes. Use New note, Add image or Embed file in the Junk Yard header, the New note shortcut (⌥⇧N by default), or the ＋ in the curtain.

Yes. While Storage Studio is running in the menu bar, the Junk Yard catches your copies with its window closed. Copies made while Storage Studio is quit aren't picked up later.

macOS saves normal screenshots as files, which the Junk Yard doesn't see. Add Control (⌃⇧⌘4 or ⌃⇧⌘3) to copy the screenshot to the clipboard, and it lands as an image scrap.

Yes. Anything copied to the Mac's standard clipboard is caught, from any app, with no per-app setup — except content an app marks as secret or temporary, such as from password managers.

Each scrap clears when its own countdown (shown as "Clears in…") runs out. New scraps use the Auto-clear setting — 1 day unless you change it — and any scrap can be set from 5 minutes to 6 months.

In Settings → Junk Yard, choose a time next to Auto-clear new scraps after — anywhere from 5 minutes to 6 months. It applies to new scraps; existing ones keep their own timers.

Open the scrap's lifetime/pin menu on its card or in the preview and pick a longer time, up to 6 months. Only that scrap changes; your default for new scraps stays the same.

No. The longest lifetime a scrap can have is 6 months; there's no "never clear" option. Save anything you need longer somewhere permanent.

Pinning keeps a scrap at the top of the board with a pin badge, under the Pinned filter, and protects it from the curtain's two-finger-tap delete. It still clears on its normal timer.

No. Pinning only keeps a scrap at the top; it still clears when its timer runs out. Give it a longer lifetime (up to 6 months) if you want it to stay.

Up to 250 scraps by default; set it from 50 to 500 under Keep up to in Settings → Junk Yard. When the board is full, the oldest scrap drops off while pinned and recent ones stay.

Click Delete (the trash button) on the card or in the preview, or use the trash button or a two-finger tap on a curtain tile. Deleted scraps are gone for good, but referenced files aren't touched.

Use Clear all Junk in the Junk Yard header or in Settings → Junk Yard, type Delete to confirm, then choose Delete every scrap. It removes pinned scraps too and can't be undone.

No. Deleted, expired and cleared scraps are removed permanently — they don't go to the Trash or the Recycle Vault. Give important scraps a longer lifetime or save them elsewhere.

No. A file scrap only points at the file, so deleting or clearing the card leaves the file untouched. Images and notes, though, live inside the Junk Yard and go with their scrap.

A little. Copied and added images are saved on your Mac while their scrap exists and removed when it clears. Text, links and file references take almost nothing.

"Clears in" is the live countdown until that scrap is removed automatically — "Clears in 3h" means about three hours left. Change it from the card's lifetime/pin menu.

Scraps are saved on your Mac and survive quitting or restarting. Their timers keep counting by the clock, so anything that expired meanwhile is removed when Storage Studio next opens.

Type in the search box at the top of the board. It matches words in scraps, file names and text inside images, and combines with the kind, time and colour filters.

Yes. The Junk Yard reads the words in images on your Mac, so searching for a word in a screenshot finds it — with or without Apple Intelligence, and nothing leaves your Mac.

Filters narrow the board by kind: All, Pinned, Clipboard, Notes, Media, Files, Links, Text and Rich. They combine with search, the time menu and colour chips.

Clipboard shows scraps caught automatically from your copies; Notes shows the ones you created yourself with New note and the other add buttons.

Use the time menu beside the filters to show scraps added Today, Yesterday, a few days ago or Earlier. Each card's Added stamp shows exactly when it landed.

Click the colour dot on a card and pick one of seven colours (or No colour to clear it). The card gets a soft matching tint, and you can then filter the board by colour.

After you've coloured some scraps, colour chips appear under the filters. Tap one to show just that colour; tap it again or Clear to show them all.

Smart find is the Junk Yard's on-device Apple Intelligence search: it matches by meaning and understands plain requests like "images from yesterday". Toggle it next to the search box.

Yes. Without Apple Intelligence, search still matches words, file names and text inside images on your Mac; only Smart find's plain-language search needs Apple Intelligence.

Smart find runs entirely on your Mac with Apple Intelligence, works offline, and never sends your scraps anywhere.

Nothing fits all your current search words and filters together. Clear the search, choose All, reset the time menu and colours; if it's still missing, it may have cleared on its timer.

Each card shows its kind, an Added time stamp and a countdown, plus buttons for lifetime/pin, colour, Copy, Edit and Delete. Click a thumbnail to open the bigger preview.

Click the scrap on the board or in the curtain, or use its Copy button, and it's on your clipboard — the next ⌘V pastes it anywhere.

Click a text or image thumbnail to open a movable, resizable preview. From there you can pin, colour, edit, copy, delete, open files, and page through scraps with ‹ › or the arrow keys.

Yes. Use the ‹ › buttons or the arrow keys in the preview to move between scraps; when opened from the curtain, the curtain follows along and highlights the current scrap.

Yes. In the preview, ⌘+ zooms in, ⌘− zooms out and ⌘0 zooms to fit; you can also resize the preview window.

On purpose: editing always saves a new scrap and leaves the original untouched, and the edit is copied to your clipboard. The new scrap keeps the original's colour, pin and timer.

Click New note (or press ⌥⇧N, or ＋ in the curtain). The rich-text editor supports bold, italic, underline, monospace, lists, links and images; saving adds the note as a scrap.

Yes. Insert or drop an image into a note, then select it and choose Small, Medium, Large or Fit, or drag its handle. Images are saved with the note.

In the Junk Yard note editor, press ⇧⌘V to paste as plain text without the original formatting; ⌘V keeps it.

Click Add image, or Edit on an image scrap: rotate, flip, adjust brightness, contrast and colour, and crop with the corner handles. Saving adds a new image scrap and copies it.

Embed file puts a reference to a file you pick onto the board. The card opens or copies the real file, takes no extra space, and follows the file if Storage Studio moves it.

Click the file card or use Open in the preview. For a group of files, open the list and use Open or Show in Finder next to any file.

"Moved" means the file was relocated — for example to your external drive by Storage Studio — and the card followed it, so opening or copying still works.

"Missing" means the original file can't be found — deleted, or on a drive that isn't connected. The card only holds a reference, so reconnect the drive or delete the card.

An optional link to the My Secretary app on the same Mac: turn on Send notes to My Secretary in Settings → Junk Yard and text scraps get a button that files them there as a note.

Yes. Copied code is kept exactly and copies back unchanged, and the note editor has a monospace style for writing code. Pin or lengthen the lifetime of snippets you reuse.

In the note editor, select text, click the link button and enter the address under Insert link. A copied web address on its own becomes a link card automatically.

Yes. The note and image editors float: drag the grab bar to move one and the corner grip to resize it, so you can keep other things visible while editing.

The curtain is a slim strip of your scraps that slides in when your pointer reaches the docked screen edge (top or right). Click a tile to copy it, then paste with ⌘V.

Move your pointer to the docked screen edge (top or right, set under Dock to in Settings → Junk Yard) and pause briefly — the strip slides in.

Yes. Set Dock to: Top or Right in Settings → Junk Yard, or flip it instantly with the dock-position shortcut (⌃⇧D by default).

Click a tile in the curtain to copy that scrap, then press ⌘V in the app you're working in — it stays in front the whole time.

Two-finger tap (secondary click) a tile, or use its hover trash button. Pinned scraps are protected from the two-finger tap, and deleted scraps can't be recovered.

Switch off Two-finger tap deletes a scrap in Settings → Junk Yard (Edge curtain section). You can still delete with a tile's trash button.

Move your pointer toward either end of the strip to scroll that way (faster near the edge), or use two-finger trackpad or mouse-wheel scrolling. A chevron shows when more tiles are hidden.

Each curtain filter icon cycles: first click shows only that kind (blue), second hides it (red with a strike), third turns it off. Combine several; All clears them.

Yes. The curtain's side grid has the filter icons, a ＋ to start a new note, and a blue button that opens the full Junk Yard board.

Yes. Click a tile's eye button to open the preview; the curtain stays open and highlights whichever scrap you page to with ‹ ›.

Yes. In Settings → Advanced → Junk Yard Edge Curtain, adjust Open delay and Close delay (about a tenth of a second each by default). Reset to defaults restores them.

Yes. Use the Panel background slider in Settings → Advanced → Junk Yard Edge Curtain to make the strip more see-through or more solid.

Yes. In Settings → Advanced → Junk Yard Edge Curtain there's a Scroll speed slider for edge auto-scroll, pointer movement, and trackpad/scroll-wheel, from slow up to 5× fast.

Switch off Open a strip of scraps when the pointer hits the screen edge in Settings → Junk Yard. The board still works from its tab and shortcut.

Raise the Open delay in Settings → Advanced → Junk Yard Edge Curtain, or dock the curtain to the right in Settings → Junk Yard so the top edge stays free for menus.

No. The curtain doesn't need Accessibility permission and doesn't take focus, so your current app stays in front and ⌘V pastes straight into it.

Defaults: ⌃⇧J opens the Junk Yard, ⌥⇧C saves the clipboard to it, ⌥⇧N starts a new note, and ⌃⇧D flips the curtain between Top and Right. Change them in Settings.

Change them in Settings → Junk Yard or Settings → Shortcuts, where each shortcut can also be switched off. The Hot Keys chip on the Home screen is a quick way in.

Another Storage Studio shortcut (such as the Apps grid's ⌃Space) already uses it — the app never lets two of its shortcuts share keys. Change the other one first.

Make sure the Junk Yard is enabled, the shortcut's own switch is on in Settings → Junk Yard, Storage Studio is running, and no other app uses the same keys.

Yes. With a device connected through Bridge, turn on Share my clipboard with … for it, and what you copy appears in the other device's Junk Yard. It's off by default and per device.

Sharing is the master switch for sending your copies to connected Bridge devices. Off means nothing you copy leaves this Mac, regardless of per-device settings. It's independent of Capturing.

It lands as a new scrap in your Junk Yard, not on your clipboard, so nothing you copied gets replaced. Click the scrap to copy it, then paste with ⌘V.

Larger shared files arrive as a placeholder with a Receive button and their size. Click Receive when you want the file and it transfers with a progress bar, while both devices stay connected.

Yes. Shared scraps show which device they came from, and a device menu appears with the filters so you can show one device's scraps or Any device.

No. Copies from password managers or marked as secret are never captured or sent to your devices. Ordinary text isn't recognised as secret, so switch Sharing off before copying sensitive text.

No. The Junk Yard works fully on a single Mac; Bridge only adds optional clipboard sharing with your other devices, which is off until you turn it on.

Yes. Each device has its own Share my clipboard with … switch, so turn it on only where you want it. The Sharing switch in the Junk Yard header overrides them all when off.

On your Mac. The Junk Yard has no account and no cloud copy, and nothing is uploaded; scraps only leave your Mac if you turn on clipboard sharing with your own Bridge devices.

Passwords from password managers are skipped, but other sensitive text is captured and kept on your Mac until it clears. Switch Capturing off first, delete the scrap, or use a short auto-clear time.

Anyone using your signed-in Mac account can open your Junk Yard, as with your files. Lock your Mac when away, and clear the board or pause Capturing if you share your account.

Only while the Junk Yard is enabled and both Capturing and Watch the clipboard are on. Then it saves each new copy (except secrets) on your Mac; switch any of them off to stop.

It's built to stay light: spotting a copy is a tiny check, and reading text in images happens gradually in the background and is remembered, so it doesn't get in your way.

Check that Enable Junk Yard on this Mac, the Capturing switch and Watch the clipboard are all on, and that Storage Studio is running. Then copy some text and watch for the green blink.

It was probably skipped on purpose: a password or secret, the same as your last copy, too many files at once, copied from the Junk Yard itself, or made while Capturing was off.

Make sure the edge curtain toggle is on, move to the edge set under Dock to (top or right), and pause there. Check the Open delay, and if needed quit and reopen Storage Studio.

Its timer ran out, the board hit its cap and dropped the oldest scrap, it was deleted (including by a two-finger tap in the curtain), or the board was cleared. Check filters too.

The Junk Yard is turned off on this Mac. Switch on Enable Junk Yard on this Mac in Settings → Junk Yard and the other settings become available.

Pinned scraps are protected from the two-finger-tap delete, or the gesture is switched off in Settings → Junk Yard. Use the tile's hover trash button instead.

The board has no scraps — normal after turning it on, clearing it, or when every timer has run out. Copy something or add a note; if nothing appears, check capturing is on.