The shared clipboard
Copy in Linux and paste on the Mac, and back again — text, images and files.
On this page 3 sections
Copy something in a Linux app and it is on your Mac's clipboard immediately. Copy on the Mac and Linux apps can paste it. On by default.
It is also what lets two Linux apps share a clipboard at all: every Linux app gets its own process, and X11 clipboards are passed directly between programs rather than stored anywhere, so without a bridge the two could not see each other.
What crosses#
| Copied | Linux to Mac | Mac to Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes, as PNG | Yes, as PNG |
| Files | Use MSL Files | Yes, from your Mac home folder |
A copy that is both text and a picture keeps both, so whichever an app asks for is the one it gets.
Files, from the Mac#
Copy a file in Finder and a Linux app can paste it. The path a Linux app receives points into /mnt/mac, which is where your Mac home folder appears inside every instance.
It is always a copy, never a move, whatever you pressed. Nothing crossing this boundary will delete the original on the other side.
Going the other way — Linux files onto the Mac's clipboard — is MSL Files' job. It is the file browser for both sides and can put real files on the clipboard itself.
What it does not cover#
Items marked private by password managers are skipped on purpose, so they are never carried into an instance.