Clipboard (24H2)

The Windows Clipboard allows you to share information stored in one app–the source app–with a second app–the destination app–using well-understood copy, cut, and paste operations. It has evolved over the years to include rich text formats including those supported by Microsoft Office applications and multiple graphics formats. And File Explorer uses Clipboard-based copy, cut, and paste operations for copying and moving files between different locations in the file system.

The Clipboard can only hold a single item by default, and it exists solely in RAM, so it is not persistent and will not survive a reboot. That item is stored in multiple formats when necessary, however, for maximum compatibility. For example, if you copy or cut formatted text from a Microsoft Word document, that item is stored in the Clipboard in multiple formats so that it can retain its formatting or be pasted as plain text, depending on the destination application.

Windows 11 provides the most advanced version of Clipboard yet. In addition to supporting all the functionality you remember from previous Windows versions, you can also use a Clipboard history feature to store multiple items in the Clipboard at once, sync Clipboard text between multiple PCs, and get suggestions for supported actions when you copy a date, time, or phone number to the Clipboard.

These additional Clipboard features require you to sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account.

Because basic Clipboard operations are well understood, we focus on the Clipboard features that debuted in Windows 10 and 11 and are probably unfamiliar to many readers in this chapter.

Paste multiple items to the Clipboard with Clipboard history

To help overcome the Clipboard’s most obvious limitation–it can hold only a single item at a time–Windows now lets you enable a Clipboard history feature that lets you save multiple items to the Clipboard. Once enabled, you can use a new keyboard shortcut, WINKEY + V, to determine which item to use when you paste information into another application.

Enable Clipboard history

To enable Clipboard history, open Settings (WINKEY + I) and navigate to System > Clipboard.

Then, enable the setting “Clipboard history.”

Alternatively, you can simply type WINKEY + V. The Clipboard history window will appear, and you can click a “Turn on” button to enable this feature.

Now, when you copy something to the Clipboard, it will be added to the Clipboard and will not replace whatever was in the Clipboard previously. With a few caveats:

• Clipboard history can store up to 25 items
• Those items can be text, HTML, and bitmap graphics only
• Each item must be 25 MB or smaller

The Clipboard will still work normally with items that do not meet those criteria. But unsupported items will not appear in Clipboard history.

Use Clipboard history

With Clipboard history enabled, normal paste operations–perhaps by typing CTRL + V–will work as before: When you do so, the last item that was added to the Clipboard is pasted.

If you paste using the new WINKEY + V keyboard shortcut, the Clipboard history window appears so you can choose which item to paste.

Using this pop-up window, you can select from the items that are available in the Clipboard. In this example, there are three items, all of which are plain text. (Each is a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien.)

Because the Clipboard works differently with different types of items and with different apps (each of which has its own capabilities), what you see here–and what you can paste–may vary. For example, if you copy an image from Microsoft Paint to the Clipboard and then try to paste it to Notepad, a plain text editor, you will see that the graphic appears in Clipboard history.

But if you select this item to paste, nothing happens because Notepad cannot accept a paste operation involving anything other than text. However, you can paste this item into a Microsoft Word document.

Do more with Clipboard history

In addition to basic copy and paste operations, Clipboard history supports some other useful features.

These include:

Pin item. If you find yourself pasting one of the items in Clipboard history repeatedly, you can “pin” it so that it remains in Clipboard history, won’t be overwritten, and will even survive reboots. To do so, find the item you wish to pin and then click its “Pin item” icon (it resembles a pushpin).

Yes, you can pin multiple items to Clipboard history.

And, yes, you read that right: When you pin an item in Clipboard history, it becomes persistent, meaning that it will always be available, even after you reboot the PC.

Paste item as text. The Clipboard supports multiple text formats, including rich text like that created by Microsoft Word. If you want to ensure that text stored in Clipboard history is pasted as plain text, select its “See more” link (“…”) and then the “Paste as text” icon that appears. (This resembles a physical clipboard.)

Delete item. To remove an item from Clipboard history, select its “See more” link (“…”) and then the “Delete” icon that appears. (This resembles a trashcan.)

Delete all items. To remove all the items from Clipboard history, select the Clear all button.

Sync the Clipboard across your PCs

Windows 10 and 11 support a feature that lets you copy text to the Clipboard on one PC and then paste it on another PC. This feature is not enabled by default, and you have to enable it on each PC you intend to use.

This feature requires Clipboard history to be enabled too.

To enable Clipboard history sync, navigate to Clipboard settings (Settings app > System > Clipboard) and enable the setting “Clipboard history across your devices.” (Enable “Clipboard history” first if required.)

As you can see, you can also choose to sync text that is copied to the Clipboard automatically or manually. In general, automatically is the better choice. But if you wish to sync manually, any text you copy will not be synced to your other PCs until you open Clipboard history, find the item you wish to sync, select its “See more” link (“…”) and then choose the Sync icon (it resembles a cloud with an up arrow).

Whichever form of sync you choose, any text that you do copy to the Clipboard and sync will appear in Clipboard history on your other PCs.

Use Suggested actions

Windows 11 includes an obscure feature called Suggested actions that appears when you copy a date, time, or phone number to the Clipboard and suggests relevant actions.

For example, if you copy a date or time to the Clipboard, the Suggested action pop-up provides one or more “Create event” options so you can do so using a compatible app on your PC.

And if you copy a phone number to the Clipboard, the Suggested action pop-up provides one or more “Call number” options so you can do that using a compatible app on your PC. In both cases, the “More actions” (“…”) button lets you choose other compatible apps, if available.

And … that’s about it. In addition to working only with this limited range of items, Suggested actions is only available in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico at this time. It is, at least, enabled by default. But if you would like to disable it, navigate to Settings > System > Clipboard and disable the setting “Suggested actions.”