How to Enable Clipboard History on Windows

By default Windows keeps only the last thing you copied. Clipboard history keeps a list of recent items so you can copy several things and paste any of them later.

Turn on Clipboard history

Press Windows + I to open Settings, then go to System, Clipboard. Turn on Clipboard history. Windows 10 has the same switch under Settings, System, Clipboard. You can also press Windows + V and click Turn on in the panel that appears.

Copy a few items

Copy text or images as usual with Ctrl + C or right-click, Copy. Each item is added to the list. Images larger than 4 MB are not stored.

Open the history and paste

Click where you want to paste, then press Windows + V. The panel lists recent items with the newest at the top. Click an item to paste it. On Windows 11, click the three-dot button on a text item and choose Paste as text to drop any formatting, or Delete to remove that one item.

Pin items you reuse

Click the pin icon on an item such as an address or a signature. Pinned items stay at the top, survive a restart, and are not removed by Clear all. Click the pin again to unpin.

Sync across devices (optional)

Back in Settings, System, Clipboard, turn on Clipboard history across your devices and choose Automatically sync text that I copy or Manually sync text that I copy. This needs a Microsoft account and the same setting on the other PC. Windows 10 labels this Sync across devices. Only text syncs, not images.

What it keeps. The list holds 25 items. Older items drop off the bottom, and everything except pinned items is cleared when the PC restarts. Passwords copied from a password manager appear in the list as well, so press Windows + V and click Clear all after using one, or turn the feature off on a shared PC.

If Windows + V does nothing. The shortcut can be blocked by group policy on a work PC. On a personal PC, check that the switch in Settings, System, Clipboard is on and sign out and back in.