Windows 10 offers a useful feature— Clipboard History—which has the ability to temporarily save data on its clipboard which can be used later on. For instance, one can copy a certain text or image from a source such as a web browser by highlighting it and pressing the CTRL + C key, then pasting it on another source such as a notepad by pressing the CTRL + V keys. Usually, one could copy a single piece of content at a time, but with Clipboard History turned on, one can track and reuse the text and images that have been copied. In this post, I will guide you on How to View Clipboard History on Windows 10.
How to view and use Clipboard History on Windows 10
For one to view the clipboard history in Windows 10, it must have been enabled at first. Here’s everything you need to know regarding Clipboard history in Windows 10.
How do I turn on my clipboard history?
The option to turn on Clipboard history is available in the settings menu; here’s how one can enable it:
- Open the Settings Panel in Windows 10 (Win+I)
- Navigate to System -> Clipboard.
- Here, under the title stating Clipboard History, you’ll find a toggle.
- Toggle the switch to on, and you’re ready to go.
How to use Clipboard History in Windows 10
- Once you have your Clipboard history feature turned on in Windows 10, go ahead and copy some contents from either a webpage or a file.
- Next up, head over to the destination file, and press the Windows + V key to open up the Clipboard History.
- This will open up a small window containing all the previously copied results. Click on either one of them to insert into the select file.
However, having Clipboard History turned on could be a disadvantage for some users. It poses a potential security risk; Here’s how: Anyone having access to your Windows machine will be able to access the data stored in the clipboard history. Anything which is copied to the clipboard is stored as a plain text file, so if one copies some important text such as a password, then there’s a greater probability that these may be exposed.
How do I sync my clipboard items to my Computer?
In case you have more than a single Windows device, and you would like to sync your clipboard data between devices easily, one can enable Clipboard Sync from Settings; here’s how:
- Open the Settings Panel in Windows 10 (Win+I)
- Navigate to System -> Clipboard.
- Here, under the title stating Sync Across Devices, you’ll find a button stating Get Started.
- Sign-in using your Microsoft Account, and you’ll find two options. Choose the one that you prefer, and you’re good to go.
- Automatically Sync Text that I copy
- Never Automatically Sync Text that I copy.
What if I want to get rid of something in the clipboard history?
In case there’s a clipboard entry one wants to get rid of, one could choose to delete the entry from the Clipboard. Here’s how:
- Open the Clipboard History window using the Win+V button on your keyboard.
- Here, right next to the text you want to get rid of from the Clipboard history, you’ll find a three-dotted icon, Click on that and choose to Delete to erase the single entry or clear to remove all of them.
How do I clear my clipboard history?
Clearing up the PC for someone else to use? Clearing the Clipboard history could help in protecting privacy. Here’s how to clear the clipboard history:
- Open the Settings Panel in Windows 10 (Win+I)
- Navigate to System -> Clipboard.
- Here, under the title stating Clear Clipboard Data, you’ll find a button stating Clear. Click on that, and you’ll find your Clipboard history cleared.
With that said, do you prefer to keep clipboard history sync turned on or off? Do let us know by dropping a comment down below.
