How to View and Clear Clipboard History in Windows 10

The Windows clipboard is a handy feature that’s been around for years. It allows you to copy up to 25 items including text, data or graphics, and paste them into a document or pin items you use regularly.

If you trigger the right keyboard shortcut, you can see and access your clipboard history and sync it through the cloud for easier access on any Windows 10 device. Here’s how to view and clear clipboard history in Windows 10.

How to Access the Windows 10 Clipboard 

If you copy content from, say a document, but forget to paste it, you can find the Windows 10 clipboard history content. The clipboard history supports text, images less than 4MB, and HTML, and stores entries from newest to oldest. If you don’t pin an item to the clipboard, it will disappear because the history list resets each time you restart your device to make room for new items.

1. If you’ve never used the Windows 10 clipboard, you can turn it on by selecting Windows logo key + V and then select Turn on.

2. Once you turn on the clipboard, enable the sync feature to sync your clipboard items to your computer and access them from any Windows 10 device. Select Start > Settings > System > Clipboard and then select On under Sync across devices. 

Note: If your clipboard isn’t syncing to your Windows computer, select Start > Settings > System > Clipboard> Automatically sync text that I copy. The sync option is linked to your work account or Microsoft account, so you’ll need to sign in with the same login credentials across your devices to access the clipboard history.

How to View Windows 10 Clipboard History 

Now that you’ve enabled clipboard history, you can open the clipboard and view the list of items you copied recently while using any app.

1. Press the Windows logo key + V.

2. The most recent items you copied will appear at the top of the list, and you can click on any item to paste it into an open document or other application. 

3. You can also remove items by selecting the three dots next to the entry you want to delete, and then choose Delete from the pop up menu.

4. To remove all entries on the clipboard history list, select Clear All in the ellipses menu.

The Windows 10 clipboard can only hold up to 25 items, so you can use a third-party clipboard manager if you want. A clipboard manager can hold more items and allow you to change the formatting or text case, create permanent clips, search clips, join clips together, and sync clipboards, among other functions.

How to Clear the Clipboard in Windows 10

If you share your device with other users, you can protect any private information you may have copied to the clipboard by clearing the clipboard history.

1. Select Start > Settings > System > Clipboard to open the clipboard. 

2. Next, select Clear clipboard data and then choose Clear.

Alternatively, you can press the Windows logo key + V and then select Clear all to clear your device’s clipboard history. 

Note: If you just want to clear one item from the clipboard history, press Windows logo key + V to open the clipboard and select Delete next to the item you wish to remove.

How to Disable Windows 10 Clipboard History

If you don’t want the items you’ve copied to be saved in the clipboard, you can turn off clipboard history through Windows 10 Settings. 

1. Select Settings > System > Clipboard to open the clipboard.

2. Find the Clipboard history section and toggle the switch to Off.

3. You can confirm whether the clipboard history is disabled by pressing the Windows logo key + V. A small window will appear alerting you that the clipboard history cannot be displayed because the feature is turned off.

Manage Windows 10 Clipboard History

Viewing and clearing your clipboard history in Windows 10 is fairly easy. Also, check out what to do if copy and paste isn’t working on Windows 10 and how to copy and paste across Apple devices using Universal Clipboard.

Leave a comment below and let us know if this guide helped you view and clear your clipboard history in Windows 10.