How to Use Clipboard History in Windows 10
Sometimes, you will find that your need for the Clipboard History feature increases while using Windows 10. Yes, you can copy and paste texts in the normal way, and this is the norm for all systems, but this does not negate the fact that it is a limited experience that only supports copying one part of the content that you want to transfer from one side to another. In this article, we will introduce you to a method that enables you to copy and paste more than one item at a time.
What is Clipboard History?
This feature first appeared in the October 2018 update, where Windows 10 provided its users with a secondary feature known by this name that enables you to copy multiple texts and images at once, so that through the interface of this feature you can view the history of copied items at once without having to copy separately each time.
This feature has really helped system users a lot, especially with the ability to pin items you copy frequently so you can go back to them and move them to the desired location faster.
Another feature is synchronization. Imagine that you want to copy a specific text, but you cannot access it because you are using a device other than your usual device. With the synchronization feature, you can use your clipboard history on your other devices once you log in to your Microsoft account. Below, we show you how to activate the use of this feature on your system and benefit from it in copying and pasting more than one text and image at the same time.
How to enable Clipboard History on Windows 10:
There are two ways you can enable clipboard history on Windows 10, you can choose any one of them to enable.
Enable clipboard history through settings:
- Open Settings.
- Click on System.
- Go to Clipboard.
- Activate its use by pressing the on button shown in the picture in front of you.
Enable clipboard history with shortcut:
You can also use another method to activate, which depends on keyboard shortcuts, by following these steps:
- Press the Windows + V keyboard keys.
- Click on the Turn On option.
With this, you have enabled the use of clipboard history on your device.
How to Stop Clipboard History on Windows 10
If you want to disable this feature on Windows 10, you can do so by following these steps:
- Open Settings.
- Click on System.
- Click on Clipboard.
- Disable the activation and once you have completed this step you will be back to the normal copy and paste experience without the clipboard history features.
How to Sync Clipboard History on Windows 10:
As we mentioned before, this is one of the most important features that you can use through the clipboard history, so that you can access the texts and images that you have copied from any device on which you open your Microsoft account easily, and you can activate the synchronization feature through the following steps:
- Open Settings.
- Click on System.
- Click on Clipboard.
- Enable the Sync across devices option.
Then you move on to selecting the automatic synchronization option that you want to use through the following options:
- Automatically sync text that I copy option that allows you to sync your clipboard history to the cloud and across your devices.
- Never automatically sync text that I copy option and after selecting it you must manually open the clipboard history and select the content you want to make available across devices.
After completing the above steps, your content history will be synced to the cloud and across devices using the settings you specified.
How to Clear Clipboard History on Windows 10
In case you want to clear the existing clipboard history because you do not want to use it again or perhaps because you are facing a usage problem that clearing the history can solve, you can rely on the following steps to be able to do so:
- Open Settings.
- Click on System.
- Go to Clipboard.
- Click on the Clear option under the Clear clipboard data section.
Once you've completed the above steps, your clipboard content will be deleted from your device and from your Microsoft account as well, but the pinned items will be kept in the registry until you manually remove them. If you want to delete one or two clips instead of clearing the entire registry, you can open the registry interface using the keyboard shortcut we mentioned earlier, which is Windows + V keys, and press the X button for each content you want to delete.
How to use the clipboard on Windows 10:
You'll find that the experience of using Clipboard History is exactly the same as you've been relying on before for copying and pasting using the regular shortcuts, Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+V for paste, or using the copy and paste options from the menu normally.
By using the Windows + V key shortcut, you can access your clipboard history so that you can find anything you have previously copied from images, texts, etc. from any application you were using. Through the following steps, you can select what you want to paste from the clipboard history:
- Select the text or image you want to copy.
- Right-click on the selection, and click Copy or Cut.
- Open the folder where you want to paste the content.
- Use the keyboard shortcut “Windows key + V” to open the clipboard history.
- Select the content you want to paste.
As for installing the items that you want to return to more than once, you can do so through the following steps:
- Use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + V to open the clipboard history.
- Open the three-dot menu on the right and choose the Pin button so that what you want to have constant access to is pinned, and when you want to unpin it, you can go through the same steps again and remove the item completely or unpin it.
What you should keep in mind when using the Clipboard History feature in Windows 10 is that if you use the clipboard to copy important information such as passwords, addresses or names, this information will be stored in plain text, meaning that anyone who can access your device will be able to see this information using the usual keyboard shortcut to open the history “Windows key + V”. If you enable the sync option, the clipboard history will be uploaded to Microsoft servers, so if you are concerned about the security of your important and confidential information, it is better not to use the sync option and then you can use external applications or programs to manage the clipboard more securely.
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