Quick Links
- How to Enable Windows 10 Clipboard History
- How to Add Items to Your Clipboard History
- How to Pin an Item to the Windows Clipboard History
- How to Sync Your Windows Clipboard History Across All Your Devices
- How to Delete or Clear Items From the Clipboard History
- How to Disable Windows 10 Clipboard History
- Limitations and Security Considerations of Windows Clipboard History
- Other Ways to Enhance the Clipboard on Windows
Key Takeaways
- Open the Windows 10 clipboard history by pressing the Windows key + V. Click "Turn on" if necessary.
- Use Windows 10 clipboard history to paste recent items by pressing Ctrl + V or selecting a previously copied entry.
- Sync clipboard items between devices by signing in with your Microsoft account and enabling syncing in the settings.
Windows 10's clipboard history feature lets you save and retrieve multiple copied items without losing earlier ones. While it's a handy feature, you need to enable it manually, and it requires a special hotkey to bring up. We'll explore how to use Windows 10's clipboard to your advantage.
How to Enable Windows 10 Clipboard History
The Windows 10 clipboard history feature isn't enabled by default, but turning it on is easy. Just press the Windows key + V hotkey, and the clipboard history will open at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
If the window says Your clipboard is empty or shows items you've copied in the past, clipboard history is already enabled. If it says Can't show history, click Turn on and Windows will activate it.
Wondering where the clipboard files are located in Windows 10? These items are stored as individual files in a hidden folder located at C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Clip. You can't directly browse this folder, but you can view and manage past items through the Clipboard History feature.
How to Add Items to Your Clipboard History
Now that clipboard history is active, it's time to understand how it works. To start, try copying text and images to put onto the clipboard. The methods for copying an item on the old clipboard work for the new one, so either copy items using Ctrl + C or right-click them and choose Copy.
Now press Windows key + V to open the clipboard history. You'll see all the items you copied on the list, with the most recent item at the top.
If you press Ctrl + V, you'll paste the most recent item copied. You can also bring up the clipboard history and click on a previously copied entry to paste it. Once you do this, Ctrl + V will paste the item you selected instead of the most recent item.
We've looked at how to fix copying and pasting in Windows if something seems wrong.
How to Pin an Item to the Windows Clipboard History
When you restart your PC, items stored in the clipboard are automatically deleted. But you can force items to stay in the clipboard by pinning them.
Press the Windows key + V to open the clipboard history. Click the three-dot icon on the item you want to keep and click Pin. Now, the item will stay on your clipboard even if you turn off your PC.
To delete a pinned item, click the three dots again and click Unpin.
How to Sync Your Windows Clipboard History Across All Your Devices
If you use multiple Windows 10 devices, you can sync clipboard items between them. To sync the clipboard between devices, you must be signed into Windows with your Microsoft account, not a local account.
Once you sign in to Windows using your Microsoft account, go to Settings > System > Clipboard and click the toggle under Sync across devices.
Below this toggle are two options: Automatically sync text that I copy and Never automatically sync text that I copy. The first option will sync anything you copy to your other devices, which is handy if you're the only person using either device.
The second method won't sync your items the moment you copy them. Instead, you need to open clipboard history, click on the three dots beside the item you want to transfer over, and click Sync. This option is best if you work with sensitive data and want control over what gets sent where.
How to Delete or Clear Items From the Clipboard History
You can clear the clipboard history at any time.
Press the Windows key + V to open the clipboard history and click the three dots on an item. Then, click Clear all at the bottom of the window. All items except for pinned items are deleted.
You can also use the above process to delete a single item; just click Delete instead of Clear all.
How to Disable Windows 10 Clipboard History
If you don't want Windows to store the clipboard history, you can turn it off.
Go to Settings > System > Clipboard and click the slider button under Clipboard history to Off. Remember that when you do this the entire clipboard history (including pinned items) will be deleted.
Limitations and Security Considerations of Windows Clipboard History
Syncing clipboard items between devices is a great feature, but there are some security issues and limitations to be aware of.
First, the Windows clipboard history is not infinite. You can only store up to 25 items on it. Once you copy the 26th item, the oldest one is bumped off the list.
You can use the Windows clipboard history to copy images across PCs. However, anything above 4MB won't show up on the clipboard, so you can't use it to transfer large files.
As we mentioned earlier, copying sensitive data with the clipboard history turned on syncs through Microsoft servers in plain text. As such, if you're handling sensitive data, it's always a good idea to enable manual syncing so you don't risk exposing your data.
Other Ways to Enhance the Clipboard on Windows
If you want more from Windows' clipboard, you're in luck. There are plenty of third-party clipboard managers you can try that replace Windows's own and come with special features you won't find on the native clipboard.
If you want to take matters into your own hands, you can extend the Windows clipboard with Ditto. This enhances the default clipboard with extra features, such as sharing it with others and performing "special pastes," like pasting without capital letters.
Regardless of your choice, you don't have to be stuck with the basic Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V functions. The Windows clipboard history lets you recall previous items, sync them across all your Windows devices, and save snippets across shutdowns. Best of all, enabling and getting accustomed to is very easy.
