diff --git a/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text b/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text
index 3f3eee65..2927260c 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text
+++ b/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text
@@ -2,20 +2,46 @@
 
 # omarchy:summary=Copy text to the clipboard and type or paste it
 # omarchy:group=clipboard
-# omarchy:args=[--shift-insert] <text>
+# omarchy:args=[--shift-insert] [--history-index <index>|<text>]
 # omarchy:examples=omarchy clipboard paste text "hello" | omarchy clipboard paste text --shift-insert "hello"
 
 use_shift_insert=false
+history_index=""
+text=""
 
-if [[ ${1:-} == "--shift-insert" ]]; then
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+  case "$1" in
+    --shift-insert)
+      use_shift_insert=true
+      shift
+      ;;
+    --history-index)
+      history_index="${2:-}"
+      shift 2
+      ;;
+    *)
+      break
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+copy_history_entry() {
+  local history_path="$HOME/.local/state/omarchy/clipboard-history.json"
+
+  [[ $history_index =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]] || exit
+  jq -e --argjson index "$history_index" '.[$index].type == "text" and (.[$index].text | type == "string")' "$history_path" >/dev/null || exit
+  jq -j --argjson index "$history_index" '.[$index].text' "$history_path" | wl-copy
+}
+
+if [[ -n $history_index ]]; then
+  copy_history_entry
   use_shift_insert=true
-  shift
+else
+  text=${1:-}
+  [[ -n $text ]] || exit
+  printf '%s' "$text" | wl-copy
 fi
 
-text=${1:-}
-[[ -n $text ]] || exit
-
-printf '%s' "$text" | wl-copy
 sleep 0.15
 
 if [[ $use_shift_insert == "true" ]]; then
diff --git a/shell/plugins/clipboard/Clipboard.qml b/shell/plugins/clipboard/Clipboard.qml
index e6aafe61..6c3e80ab 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/clipboard/Clipboard.qml
+++ b/shell/plugins/clipboard/Clipboard.qml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Item {
     root.opened = true
     root.filterText = ""
     root.selectedIndex = 0
-    root.cursorActive = false
+    root.cursorActive = true
     root.rebuildDisplay()
     Qt.callLater(function() { keyCatcher.forceActiveFocus() })
   }
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ Item {
     if (row.entryType === "image") {
       Quickshell.execDetached([root.omarchyPath + "/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-file", row.mime, row.path])
     } else if (row.fullText) {
-      Quickshell.execDetached([root.omarchyPath + "/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text", "--shift-insert", row.fullText])
+      Quickshell.execDetached([root.omarchyPath + "/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text", "--shift-insert", "--history-index", String(row.index)])
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/shell/plugins/clipboard/ClipboardHistory.js b/shell/plugins/clipboard/ClipboardHistory.js
index 6fb0d5b2..8e5587bb 100644
--- a/shell/plugins/clipboard/ClipboardHistory.js
+++ b/shell/plugins/clipboard/ClipboardHistory.js
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 function normalizeEntry(value) {
   if (typeof value === "string")
-    return value.length > 0 ? { type: "text", text: value } : null
+    return value.trim().length > 0 ? { type: "text", text: value } : null
 
   if (!value || typeof value !== "object") return null
 
   var type = String(value.type || value.kind || "")
   if (type === "text") {
     var text = String(value.text || "")
-    return text.length > 0 ? { type: "text", text: text } : null
+    return text.trim().length > 0 ? { type: "text", text: text } : null
   }
 
   if (type === "image") {
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ function displayRows(history, query, limit) {
       previewImage: isImage ? String(entry.path || "") : "",
       path: isImage ? String(entry.path || "") : "",
       mime: isImage ? String(entry.mime || "image/png") : "text/plain",
-      index: rows.length
+      index: i
     })
     if (rows.length >= max) break
   }
diff --git a/test/shell.d/clipboard-test.sh b/test/shell.d/clipboard-test.sh
index 5d05bd54..cf42a2e5 100644
--- a/test/shell.d/clipboard-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/clipboard-test.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ assertDeepEqual(
   'clipboard history parser drops invalid entries'
 )
 
+assertDeepEqual(clipboard.parseHistory(JSON.stringify([' ', '\n', { type: 'text', text: '\t' }])), [], 'clipboard history parser drops whitespace-only text')
+
 const history = [
   { type: 'text', text: 'old' },
   { type: 'text', text: 'new' },
@@ -51,6 +53,12 @@ assertDeepEqual(
   'clipboard display rows search image metadata'
 )
 
+assertDeepEqual(
+  clipboard.displayRows(history, 'image', 50).map(row => row.index),
+  [2],
+  'clipboard display rows preserve original history indexes'
+)
+
 assertDeepEqual(
   clipboard.displayRows([{ type: 'text', text: 'line one\nline two' }], '', 50)[0].previewText,
   'line one line two',
@@ -60,3 +68,31 @@ assertDeepEqual(
 assertDeepEqual(clipboard.displayRows(history, '', 0), [], 'clipboard display rows supports zero result limit')
 assertDeepEqual(clipboard.addEntry(history, 'next', 0), [], 'clipboard addEntry supports zero history limit')
 JS
+
+TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMPDIR"' EXIT
+
+mkdir -p "$TMPDIR/bin" "$TMPDIR/home/.local/state/omarchy"
+
+cat >"$TMPDIR/bin/wl-copy" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+cat >"$WL_COPY_OUT"
+SH
+
+cat >"$TMPDIR/bin/wtype" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+printf '%s\n' "$*" >"$WTYPE_OUT"
+SH
+
+chmod +x "$TMPDIR/bin/wl-copy" "$TMPDIR/bin/wtype"
+
+jq -n --arg text "$(printf 'large block line 1\nlarge block line 2\n')" '[{type:"text", text:"ignored"}, {type:"text", text:$text}]' >"$TMPDIR/home/.local/state/omarchy/clipboard-history.json"
+
+WL_COPY_OUT="$TMPDIR/copied" WTYPE_OUT="$TMPDIR/wtype" HOME="$TMPDIR/home" PATH="$TMPDIR/bin:$PATH" \
+  "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-clipboard-paste-text" --shift-insert --history-index 1
+
+[[ $(<"$TMPDIR/copied") == "$(printf 'large block line 1\nlarge block line 2')" ]] || fail "clipboard paste helper copies history entry text"
+pass "clipboard paste helper copies history entry text"
+
+[[ $(<"$TMPDIR/wtype") == "-M shift -k Insert -m shift" ]] || fail "clipboard paste helper pastes history entries with shift insert"
+pass "clipboard paste helper pastes history entries with shift insert"