How to copy from clipboard Windows 10

From crunching massive data sets to connecting people across the globe, it’s impossible to overstate the impact of modern technology. But it’s not just major advancements that simplify our lives – it’s the little things, too.

One of the more useful features of the modern PC is copying and pasting text and images from one document or program to another. This feature is known as the "clipboard" on Windows PCs, and its use has grown beyond shifting data on the same computer. With the clipboard, you can now copy and paste between different computers and mobile devices.

But how does it work? Learn more about the innovative features of the clipboard for Windows 10 in our guide. You may be surprised at how it can save you time and provide an easier way to communicate.

The latest clipboard, designed for Windows 10, is cloud-based. Its main feature is the ability to copy up to 25 pieces of text or images for later use. You can access these items on the same PC or a different one, so you can paste those same items into another application or program.

The “pin” feature is another notable perk. It’s perfect for when you need to use the same few items again and again. Instead of copying them to the clipboard over and over, you can pin them instead.

Use the pin feature when you need to paste your home address repeatedly, or when you want to use the same logo or avatar on your communications. Simply pin the item to the clipboard to retrieve it.

You can only access the same clipboard across multiple devices if you’re using the same Microsoft account and all of the devices use the Windows 10 operating system. If you’re logged into your Microsoft account but use your spouse’s computer with their account, for example, the shared clipboard (also known as “syncing”) won’t work.

You have to enable the clipboard before you can use it. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings, and click on System.
2. Choose Clipboard.
3. Toggle the Clipboard History to the “on” position.

Do you prefer keyboard shortcuts? Here’s how to access the clipboard on Windows with a few button presses:

1. Press the Windows logo key + V at the same time.
2. Select Turn On.

You can now use clipboard’s features, including Sync.

To use your clipboard data between devices, you need to enable Sync. If you use Microsoft OneDrive, Sync works similarly. First, log into your Microsoft account on every device you plan to use. Then, enable syncing:

1. Open Settings and click on System.
2. Click on Clipboard and look for the Sync Across Devices section.
3. Toggle the switch to the “on” position.
4. Choose your syncing preference.

You can pick between automatic, which will always sync the text you copy and make it accessible to all your devices, or never automatically sync. The second option requires you to open the clipboard history every time you want to access something across your devices and specify it as syncable.

If you have privacy concerns, consider the second (non-automatic) option. It’s particularly important if you use your computer for work or don’t want anyone else who uses your devices to be able to paste items you didn’t intend to share.

You may not always want to save copied items on your clipboard forever. It makes sense then to delete what you will no longer use after a time. Delete your entire history using these steps:

1. Open Settings and click on System.
2. Click on Clipboard and look for “Clear Clipboard data".
3. Click Clear.

This erases everything on your clipboard. If you have syncing enabled, it will delete it across your devices. However, anything you have pinned will remain until you delete them individually from the pinned menu.

If you want to delete things one by one, press the Windows key + V keyboard shortcut and go down the list of multiple items you have saved. Click the X button to delete the items you don’t want. If you don’t want to keep anything, you can also clear the entire history using the Clear all button.

If you already copy and paste items, you will be very familiar with the new clipboard’s features. Also, fans of shortcuts will be happy to know you can still use the Ctrl + C keys to copy and the Ctrl + V keys to paste. You can also press the Windows key + V to access the clipboard items and see everything you copied from all devices and programs, such as Word and Excel.

When viewing those items, simply right-click on the one you want to access, then choose Copy or Cut. You can then paste it into place by pressing Ctrl + V.

Remember that it’s best to pin those items you use repeatedly. You can also pin and unpin items as needed, or remove them with the X button next to the item in the list.

There may come a time when you don’t want the clipboard to save everything. Here’s how to disable the clipboard:

1. Open Settings and click on System.
2. Click on Clipboard and toggle Clipboard history to the “off” position.

Keep in mind that you can’t save items to share between devices if you disable the clipboard. Simply toggle it back on if you want to use the Sync option or copy/paste items again.

Clipboard is easy to use, and chances are you won’t run into any issues. However, it’s still possible that you may experience some problems. Here are the most common errors, and their solutions.

It’s possible you didn’t enable your clipboard history. Use the steps above to enable the clipboard or click the Windows key + V to turn it on. If you powered down your computer recently, this will erase all of the items. The only items that remain are those you pinned.

If an item won’t copy to the clipboard, it may be incompatible or too big (file size larger than 4MB). The clipboard can only save HTML, text, and bitmap at this time. For example, you can’t save an entire document file.

You can only store 25 items at a time. If you try to save a 26th item, you will lose the first item on your clipboard. You can prevent this from happening to a specific item by pinning it. Pinned items remain and take space over non-pinned items.

If you can’t sync clipboard items, you need to make sure you’re using Windows 10 across all of your devices and that you are logged into the same Microsoft account. If needed, update Windows 10 to the latest version. Then, make sure to enable syncing on every device.

Most of the features we mentioned are available in Windows 11. You can access the clipboard settings in the same place as Windows 10 by accessing Settings, then System, and then Clipboard.

It’s not clear yet if cross functionality exists between a Windows 10 device and a Windows 11 device. For the best results, update all of your devices to the same OS, whether it’s 10 or 11, and make sure you’re using the same Windows account.

The clipboard feature is a staple of Windows and one that many people depend on to work faster and more efficiently. However, this feature does have its security risks because you’re essentially sharing every copied item between devices.

Consider if you want to use the Sync feature all the time, and be careful about what you sync. Avoid copy and pasting passwords or other sensitive information.

The clipboard feature makes it all too easy for anyone to sit down at your computer, look at your clipboard history, and see important data you copied. If you do copy anything potentially sensitive, promptly remove it from the clipboard.

About the Author: Linsey Knerl is a contributing writer for HP Tech Takes. Linsey is a Midwest-based author, public speaker, and member of the ASJA. She has a passion for helping consumers and small business owners do more with their resources via the latest tech solutions.

On Windows 10, you've been able to copy and paste text and images for a long time, but it's been an experience somewhat limited that only supported copying one piece of content at a time and no interface to view the things you copied.

To overcome these limitations and to make the experience more useful, starting with the October 2018 Update, Windows 10 introduces a new clipboard that tracks the text and images (up to 4MB) that you copy. Also, you can finally view and paste content from the clipboard history, and even pin items that you copy and paste more frequently.

In addition, leveraging the same cloud technology use to sync your Timeline content, your clipboard history can now roam and be accessible across all your devices.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to set up and use the new cloud-powered clipboard experience included with the October 2018 Update.

How to enable clipboard on Windows 10

On Windows 10 version 1809, you can enable the new clipboard experience using the Settings app and the new keyboard shortcut.

To enable clipboard in the Settings app, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on System.
3. Click on Clipboard.
4. Turn on the Clipboard history toggle switch.

Enabling clipboard using a shortcut

Alternatively, to enable clipboard using a keyboard shortcut, use these steps:

1. Use the Windows key + V keyboard shortcut.
2. Click the Turn on button.

After completing the steps, you can start using the clipboard experience and manage many other settings.

Disabling clipboard on Windows 10

The clipboard history device using the sis disabled by default, but you can check or disable it if the feature is turned on using these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on System.
3. Click on Clipboard.
4. Turn off the Clipboard history toggle switch.

Once you've completed the steps, the new clipboard experience will no longer be available without affecting the old clipboard functionality.

How to sync clipboard history on Windows 10

Perhaps one of the most interesting features about the new clipboard is the ability to paste text and images on your other devices. However, for privacy reasons, it's a feature that you must enable and configure manually using these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on System.
3. Click on Clipboard.
4. Under "Sync across devices," turn on the toggle switch.

1. Select the automatic syncing option you want to use:
   • Automatically sync text that I copy: Your clipboard history will sync to the cloud and across your devices.
   • Never automatically sync text that I copy: You must manually open the clipboard history and select the content you want to make available across devices.

After completing the steps, your content history will sync to the cloud and across devices using the settings you specified.

How to clear clipboard history on Windows 10

If you want to delete your clipboard history because you no longer want to use experience or something isn't working correctly, and you want to reset the history to see if that fixes the problem, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on System.
3. Click on Clipboard.
4. Under "Clear clipboard data," click the Clear button.

Once you've completed the steps, your clipboard content will be deleted from your device and Microsoft account, but pinned items will remain in the history until you remove them manually.

If you're looking to delete one or two clips, instead of clearing the entire history, you can open the Windows key + V experience, and click the X button for each content you want to delete. Alternatively, you can also click the Clear all button in the history interface to erase the list.

How to use clipboard on Windows 10

Although the new clipboard introduces a new interface and several new features, it's not an experience complicated to use.

The new clipboard complements the old experience that you already know. Once you upgrade to the October 2018 Update, you can still use the Ctrl + C shortcut to copy and the Ctrl + V shortcut to paste. The same is true using the right-click context menu.

However, you can now use the Windows key + V shortcut to bring up the new clipboard history. In this new interface, you'll find a list of items (such as text and images) that you have copied from different applications, such as Microsoft Word, Snip & Sketch, OneNote, etc.

If you want to copy and paste content from your history, use these steps:

1. Select the text or image from an application.
2. Right-click the selection, and click the Copy or Cut option.
3. Open the document you want to paste the content.
4. Use the Windows key + V shortcut to open the clipboard history.

1. Select the content you want to paste.

You can also pin the items that you paste frequently for faster access using these steps:

1. Use the Windows key + V shortcut to open the clipboard history.
2. Click the Pin button for the content you paste frequently.

When you no longer need the content, click the button again to unpin or the X button to delete the item.

Using the clipboard history, there are some obvious limitations as no everything you copy will appear in the history or sync across devices. For example, you can copy the name of a file, but copying a file to move it to another location will not appear in the history.

Also, the cloud clipboard supports images, but only if you copy the image within a document. You cannot copy an image file and expect it to appear in the history or sync across devices.

Wrapping things up

Although the new clipboard experience can sync your history across devices, you can only access your history on computers running Windows 10 version 1809 or later and when using the same Microsoft account.

If you choose to enable this feature, make sure that you also understand the potential security risks. For example, if you're one of those that usually copy sensitive information (such as passwords, addresses, names, etc.), anything you copy to the clipboard will store in plain text, and anyone with access to your computer will now be able to see this information by just using the Windows key + V shortcut. In addition, if you enable the sync option, you'll also be uploading your history to the Microsoft servers.

What do you think about the new clipboard experience on Windows 10? Are you enabling the syncing option too? Let us know in the comments.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources: