How to enable and use Clipboard History on Windows 10?

March 23, 2021

Copy (Ctrl+ C) and Paste (Ctrl+ V) functions are part of every Windows operating system, including Windows 2000 to Windows 10. However, Windows 10 takes the copy and paste function to another level by adding a feature Clipboard history. Clipboard history lets you see a list of items you have copied to the clipboard recently. By default, Clipboard history remains disabled in Windows 10. Once you activate this feature, you can press the Ctrl+ V keyboard shortcut to see the clipboard history.

In Windows 10, Clipboard history stores a maximum of 25 entries; once the number of maximum 25 entries reaches, it will replace an old entry with a new one when you copy a new link or text in the clipboard. That means the oldest items disappear from the clipboard history as new ones appear. Furthermore, unless an item is pinned to the Clipboard, the Clipboard history list will reset every time you restart your computer or device.

In this post, we will guide you to turn on Clipboard history and view your clipboard history.

Topics Covered

1 What can I Store in Clipboard History?
2 How to Enable Clipboard History in Windows 10?
3 How to View Clipboard History in Windows 10?
4 How to Remove items from Clipboard History in Windows 10?
5 How to disable Clipboard History in Windows 10?

What can I Store in Clipboard History?

Clipboard history first appeared in Windows 10’s October 2018 Update (Version 1809), and it supports text and HTML (URL). It can store the highest of 25 entries. It keeps deleting the old one when a new clipboard appears. Further, unless an item is pinned to the Clipboard, the history list will be erased every time you restart your computer or laptop.

How to Enable Clipboard History in Windows 10?

To enable the Clipboard History in Windows 10 PC, perform the following steps:-

Step 1. Open the Windows Settings. To open the Settings app, click the Start button and then click the Settings Gear icon on the Start menu’s left side or simultaneously press Windows + I keys to open the Settings.

Step 2. In the Settings window, click on the System category.

Step 3. Under the System, click on the Clipboard.

Step 4. On the right-side pane of the Clipboard, locate the “Clipboard history” section and toggle the switch to On.

Step 5. Clipboard history is now enabled. You can now close the Settings window and use this feature in any application.

How to View Clipboard History in Windows 10?

Once you have enabled Clipboard history, you can call up a list of items you have copied recently by pressing Windows + V. A small window will open up with the title Clipboard. The most recent copied items will be available at the top of the list.

To paste the item from the Clipboard history, open the application where you want to paste the text or URL, call up Clipboard history by pressing Windows + V keys, click on any item from the Clipboard. It will immediately paste the selected clipboard item to opened application.

How to Remove items from Clipboard History in Windows 10?

Step 1. Open the Windows Settings.

To open the Settings app, click the Start button and then click the Settings gear icon on the Start menu’s left side or simultaneously press Windows logo + I keys to open the Settings.

Step 2. In the Settings window, click on the System category.

Step 3. Under the System, click on theClipboard option.

Step 4. On the right-side pane of the Clipboard, locate the “Clear clipboard data” section and click the Clearbutton to erase all clipboard history. It will silently erase all the clipboard history.

If you don’t want to go through the Settings app to erase Clipboard history, call up the Clipboard window by pressing Windows logo + V keys. Click on the ellipses (three dots) beside any item you’d like to delete. Select Delete option from the small menu that pops up. If you’d like to remove all the items at once from Clipboard history, click Clear All in the ellipses menu.

If you’d like to keep any item permanently in the Clipboard history, click Pin in the ellipses menu to pin the selected item. Even if you will reboot your PC or use the Clear all option, pinned items will always remain in the Clipboard history. You can delete the pinned item later by selecting Delete from the ellipses menu.

How to disable Clipboard History in Windows 10?

To disable or turn off the Clipboard History in Windows 10 PC, perform the following steps:-

Step 2. In the Settings window, click on the System category.

Step 3. Under the System, click on the Clipboard.

Step 4. On the right-side pane of the Clipboard, locate the “Clipboard history” section and toggle the switch On to Off.

Note: If the Clipboard history feature is turned off and you want to quickly turn it on, you can use the hotkey Windows logo + V. Click on the Turn on button to enable it immediately.