Clipboard

The clipboard, also known as pasteboard, is a special location on computer, phone, and tablet memory that temporarily stores cut or copied text or other data. Once something is stored in the clipboard, it can be pasted to a new location. The clipboard holds its information until you cut or copy something else, or log out of the computer.

For example, a user may copy information from a word processor and paste it into an e-mail message. If the user pastes from the clipboard multiple times, the same information is pasted again and again. If the user then copies something else, that new information replaces the old information in the clipboard.

How to copy or move information to the clipboard

On a computer

To copy information from a program to the clipboard, use the copy feature. For example, you could highlight the text, image, or another object you want to copy, and once highlighted, right-click it and choose the option to copy. Alternatively, you could use the copy keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C on the PC and Chromebook or Command + C on a Mac.

To move text or another object from a program to the clipboard, use the cut feature. For example, you could highlight the text, image, or another object you want to cut, and once highlighted, right-click it and choose the option to cut. Alternatively, you could use the cut keyboard shortcut Ctrl + X on the PC and Chromebook or Command + X on a Mac.

On a mobile device

To copy text or a picture, use the copy feature. Highlight the text or picture, tap the highlighted text or picture with your finger, and select the Copy option that appears.

To move text or a picture, use the cut feature. Highlight the text or picture, tap the highlighted text or picture with your finger, and select the Cut option that appears.

Copying information from the clipboard to another program

On a computer

After completing the steps above to copy or move information to the clipboard, it can be placed in any program using paste. For example, you could move to where you want to paste text, picture, or another object, right-click a blank area, and select the option to paste. Alternatively, you could use the paste keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V on a PC and Chromebook or Command + V on a Mac.

On a mobile device

After completing the steps above to copy or move information to the clipboard, it can be placed in any program using the paste feature. Tap in the program where you want to paste the content, then tap again at that location and select the Paste option that appears.

How do I open the clipboard?

Many operating systems include «clipboard viewers» that display what information is currently stored in the clipboard. These utilities often can configure the clipboard with permissions or view its history. Below are the steps on how to view the clipboard in Windows and on mobile devices.

Windows 10

In the October 2018 update for Windows 10, Microsoft introduced a new clipboard that allows you to view the history of content copied. However, the clipboard history is only available for copied text and images up to 4 MB in size.

To enable the clipboard history feature, follow the steps below.

1. Click Start, then click the Settingsicon.
2. On the Settings window, click the System option.
3. In the left navigation pane, click the Clipboard option.
4. Under Clipboard history, click the toggle switch to the position.

Once enabled, you can view the clipboard history by pressing the Windows key + V keyboard shortcut.

Windows Vista, 7, and 8

Unfortunately, Microsoft decided not to include a clipboard viewer in Windows Vista, 7, and 8. To view the contents of the clipboard, you need to download and use a third-party utility or program.

The command line clip command still works. See the command line section for further information.

Windows 2000 and XP

Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP users may find it difficult to locate the clipboard because it was renamed to the Clipbook viewer. It is found by opening Windows Explorer, then the «Winnt» or «Windows» folder, then the «System32» folder. Find and double-click the clipbrd.exe file.

Users can also click Start, Run, type clipbrd, and press Enter to execute this program.

Windows 9x, ME, and NT

Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, and ME come installed with a clipboard viewer, and can run by clicking Start, Programs, System Tools, and clicking Clipboard Viewer. The clipboard viewer is also executable through the clipbrd.exe file in the Windows directory.

Windows command line

In the standard Windows command line, there are no commands that allow you to paste or view the contents of the clipboard. However, you can copy text to the clipboard with the clip command.

Then you can paste the text to another program, such as Notepad.

See the clip command page for further information and examples.

Windows PowerShell

If you are using Windows PowerShell, you can paste the clipboard with the Get-Clipboard command or its alias gcb.

To use PowerShell, open the Start menu and click Windows PowerShell > Windows PowerShell.

iPad and iPhone

Unfortunately, Apple does not include a clipboard viewer on iPads and iPhones. To view the clipboard contents, you need to download and use a third-party app, like Paste or Clip+.

Android device

Unfortunately, Google does not include a clipboard viewer for the Android operating system on phones or tablets. To view the clipboard contents, you need to download and use a third-party app, like Gboard.

How much data can the clipboard store?

The amount of data the clipboard can store depends on how much physical memory (RAM) and configured virtual memory (paging file) is in the computer. The more memory a computer has, the more data you can copy to the clipboard.

Only copied text and images are stored in the clipboard. If you copy a file, only information about the file is stored, not the file itself. For this reason, it’s uncommon that you need to increase the amount of data the clipboard can store. However, if you are working with large or raw images, you might encounter a case where more memory is needed to allow the clipboard to store the image data.

What Is Clip­board in Win­dows 10 and How to Use It: A Com­plete Guide

Mehvish

08 Jul 2020

You must have used copy-paste functionality at least once whether you own a smartphone, tablet, or computer. What would life be without copy and paste? Scary. We use it almost daily and yet we take it for granted like most of the regularly used things. Most people aren’t even familiar with the actual term of copy-pasting data – adding to clipboard. The clipboard is present in Windows 10 as well. What is Clipboard in Windows? How to use it? Find the answers to such questions in this post.

The simple act of Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V keyboard shortcuts has made our work easier so many times. The clipboard is copy-paste on steroids. With time, clipboard in Windows 10 has received new functionalities.

Let’s see what is a clipboard in Windows 10 and how to enable or disable it.

What Is a Clipboard in Windows

Picture this: you cut a text in Word and then paste it in Google Docs after 5 minutes. Where did the text go in those 5 minutes? It was neither in Word nor Google Docs. What happened to it? You may consider it hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. Well, it was stored in the clipboard. Yes, it stores text just like the physical clipboard.

Consider clipboard as a temporary, tiny, and hidden storage to save your most recently copied data. The data can be an image, text, a file, or a folder. So when you copy a piece of data, it stays on the clipboard to let you paste it wherever required. You can paste the same data multiple times. Unless it is overwritten by other data when you copy something else. Yes, it does come with a finite limit.

Clipboard has always been part of a Windows PC. But its features were limited. Earlier, when you copied something, you could only paste or use the recently copied item. But with the October 2018 Windows update, Microsoft added new functionalities to the clipboard, including saving multiple entries to clipboard.

What’s New in Clipboard in Windows 10

As mentioned above, when you copy an item to the clipboard, the existing entry is deleted (from the old clipboard). With the new update, you can see your clipboard history and paste older items from history.

In other words, Windows maintains a small but temporary log of your copied data. For instance, if you copy paragraphs from different websites, you can view them in your clipboard on Windows 10. You can then paste the paragraph that you want from the clipboard instead of just the recently copied one. The data stays in your clipboard history until you restart your computer.

Now, you can pin your most frequently used items in the clipboard. Such items will not get deleted even if you restart your PC. The clipboard history is now cloud-based, so you can sync it across your Windows 10 devices if enabled. That means if you copy something on one PC, the same will be available on your second device.

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Capabilities and Limitations of New Clipboard

The new clipboard can retain a maximum of 25 entries apart from pinned items. Any addition, after that, will automatically remove the earlier data unless it’s a pinned item or you restart your computer.

The clipboard is usable with text, HTML, and Bitmap images (JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.). You can access paragraphs, URLs, and even screenshots from the clipboard history.

The maximum size of any copied data, especially an image is 4MB per item. If an item is larger than 4MB, it won’t be accessible via the clipboard history.

How to View Clipboard History in Windows 10

You might be wondering: Where do I find this new clipboard in Windows 10 or do I need to download a new app? Some might have even tried using the existing Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut, and failed at viewing the copy-paste history.

For starters, you don’t need to download any app. Just use the Windows key + V keyboard shortcut and the clipboard panel will open. You can still use the Ctrl + X, Ctrl + C, and Ctrl + V keyboard shortcuts to cut, copy, and paste recent data, respectively. But to view the clipboard history, you will have to rely on Windows key + V shortcut. The clipboard window will open wherever your cursor is at the moment.

Tip: If you tend to forget the clipboard shortcut, just remember instead of the Ctrl key, you have to press the Windows key.

How to Enable or Disable Clipboard History

When you press the Windows key + V keyboard shortcut for the first time, you will be asked if you want to enable the clipboard history. Click on Turn on.

In case you don’t get that option, follow the given steps to enable or disable the clipboard history in Windows 10.

Step 1: Open Settings on your computer and go to System.

Step 2: Click on Clipboard from the left panel. Enable the toggle under Clipboard history in the right panel. In case you want to disable it, turn the toggle off.

How to Use Clipboard in Windows 10

Now that you know what is a clipboard along with its features and how to access it in Windows 10, let’ see how to use it.

Firstly, copy or cut data as you usually do with the keyboard shortcuts or click on the cut or copy buttons. Then open clipboard history panel by using Windows key + V shortcut. When the clipboard panel is open, here’s how to perform various tasks.

1. Copy From Clipboard

To get something from your clipboard history on to an app, click on the entry in the clipboard. If a supported app is open, the data will be pasted onto it automatically. If no app is open, the item will be available as your most recent item in the clipboard. You can press Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut to paste it wherever required.

Note: Currently, you cannot select and paste multiple items. You will have to paste them individually.

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# gtexplains

2. Pin Item

When you pin an item, it will stay in your clipboard history until you delete it manually. Restarting your PC or clearing clipboard history will not remove the pinned items.

To pin a clipboard item, click on the three-dot icon next to the entry. Select Pin from it. To unpin, repeat the steps, and click on unpin.

3. Delete Individual Item From Clipboard History

You don’t necessarily need to restart your computer to delete items from it. You can manually remove any item. For that, click on the three-dot icon on the item and hit the Delete button.

4. Clear Clipboard History

To delete all items in your clipboard except the pinned items, click on the three-dot icon next to any of the entries. Then hit the Clear all option.

Alternatively, go to Settings > System > Clipboard. Scroll down and click on the Clear button under Clear clipboard data.

How to Sync Clipboard Across Multiple Devices

Sharing your clipboard items is one of the new features of the clipboard in Windows 10. However, the feature is limited between Windows 10 computers only.

Sync Clipboard Between Windows 10 PCs

You need to use the same Microsoft account on your Windows 10 devices to sync the clipboard.

To enable this feature, go to Settings > System > Clipboard. Turn on the toggle present under Sync across devices.

Sync Windows Clipboard With Android

You will need to use third-party apps to sync clipboard between Windows 10 computers and Android. At least that was the only solution while this post was written. However, the good news is that in the future, you will be able to sync clipboard natively using Microsoft’s Your Phone app.

Fix: Cannot See Clipboard History in Windows 10

If you are unable to access the new clipboard either in setting or through the keyboard shortcut, make sure you are on the latest version on Windows 10. The new clipboard works on Windows 10 October 2018 build and above.

To check your current version, go to Settings > System > About. You will find the version number listed under Windows specifications.

To update your computer, go to Settings > Update & Security. Click on Check for updates. Install the update if available.

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How to Fix Windows Clipboard Not Working on Windows 10

Try Other Clipboard Managers

Microsoft has done a pretty good job with its native clipboard manager. But if you are not satisfied with the offerings, you can try free third-party clipboard managers for Windows 10 PC such as Ditto, Clipboard Master, 1Clipboard, ClipX, etc. We hope that Microsoft adds new features to the clipboard, such as the capability to search, use filters, and more.

Next up: Check out our other explainer that covers Focus Assist in Windows 10. Find out what it is and how it can help you from the next link.

Last updated on 22 Jul, 2020
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

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