26 Jan 2026 Macbooks

macOS: Disable Clipboard Sharing and Handoff in 1 Step

By Andrew Baker · Group CIO, Capitec Bank · 26 January 2026

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Disabling Handoff and clipboard sharing on macOS takes one Terminal command: `defaults write com.apple.coreservices.useractivityd ActivityAdvertisingAllowed bool NO && defaults write com.apple.coreservices.useractivityd ActivityReceivingAllowed bool NO`. Run it, then log out and back in for the changes to take effect.

Article Summary

1.
What it is
This article provides instructions for disabling the handoff feature on macOS that automatically shares clipboard content between Apple devices.
2.
Why it matters
Many users find the automatic clipboard sharing between devices annoying or intrusive, and the setting location is difficult to remember in macOS settings.
3.
Key takeaway
You can disable handoff clipboard sharing with a simple script rather than hunting through system preferences.

33 words · ~1 min read

For the life of me I can never remember where this sits in the settings, all I know is that it irritates me constantly 🙂

So to turn off handoff, run the script below:

# Turn off Handoff
defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.coreservices.useractivityd.plist ActivityAdvertisingAllowed -bool no
defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.coreservices.useractivityd.plist ActivityReceivingAllowed -bool no

# Restart sharingd
killall sharingd

macOS: Disable Clipboard Sharing and Handoff in 1 Step

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