Newer versions of Windows 10 ( v. 1809) now comes with cloud based clipboard feature which allows users to copy, select and paste multiple items from the clipboard.
In past, it’s an experience somewhat limited that only supported copying one piece of content at a time and no interface to view the things you copied.
For example, you copied one paragraph of text and then you copied another line of text, in such case Windows will only keep the new text line in clipboard and will remove the previous copied text paragraph from the clipboard.
Also Read: Top 4 Ways to Find Windows 10 Product Key
To overcome these limitations and to make the experience more useful, Windows 10 introduces a new cloud based clipboard that tracks multiple items such as text and images (up to 4MB) and then the user can select and paste desired copied items anywhere they want such as Notepad, Microsoft Word, etc.
In this step by step guide, we will walk you through the steps to use new cloud based Windows 10 clipboard experience.
How to enable and customize cloud based clipboard settings in Windows 10
On Windows 10 ( v. 1809), you can enable new cloud based clipboard experience from the Settings app or by using a new keyboard shortcut key.
How to enable cloud based clipboard using Settings app:
Step 1: Open Windows Settings using hotkey + I.
Step 2: Click on System >> Clipboard then turn on the Clipboard history toggle switch.
Alternatively, You can directly launch cloud based clipboard using new keyboard shortcut i.e + V and click the Turn on button.
How to customize cloud based clipboard
One of the most exciting features about the new clipboard is the ability to sync your copied items across other devices which use same Microsoft account sign-in.
However, for privacy reasons this option is disabled by default. You need to follow below steps for enabling this feature.
Step 1: Open Windows Settings using hotkey + I.
Step 2: Click on System >> Clipboard then turn on the Sync across devices toggle switch.
Once this is enabled, you will then be able to configure whether you wish to automatically sync text that you copy to other devices or if you want to specify as needed the clips you want to share.
But due to some reason if you want to reset your clipboard history and start from fresh then use these steps:
Step 1: Open Windows Settings using hotkey + I.
Step 2: Click on System >> Clipboard.
Step 3: Under Clear clipboard data, click the Clear button.
❗ Note
Clear clipboard data option removes all items from clipboard history except the pinned items.
How to use new cloud based clipboard in Windows 10
In past to copy the text, we were using CTRL+C hotkey and to paste the text we needed to press CTRL+V hotkey.
With new cloud based clipboard to copy items you still need to use the same CTRL+C hotkey but to paste the copied text from cloud based clipboard, you need to use the new + V keyboard shortcut.
If you want to copy and paste multiple items from your history, use these steps:
Step 1: Select your desired text or image using CTRL+C hotkey from an application such as Notepad (of course you can use mouse for the same).
Step 2: Open the document such as Microsoft Word to paste the content. Then after, use the shortcut key + V to open the clipboard history which shows the copied items in its fly-out option.
Step 3: The clipboard window also shows the timestamp when last time synced, while hover over copied items. To paste an item, just click on it and it will be immediately pasted at current cursor position.
How to pin items in new cloud based clipboard history
If you restart your PC, Windows 10 will remove automatically clipboard history. To prevent this from happening you can pin them. The steps are demonstrated below:
Step 1: Use + V shortcut key to open the clipboard history.
Step 2: Click the Pin button for the content you paste frequently.
Once you pin an item in clipboard, it will not be deleted by Windows even upon system reboot and even if you manually clear clipboard history using “Clear all” option.
Conclusion
The new cloud based clipboard is a very useful feature for those who copy same things repeatedly. Now you can use new shortcut key + V and select the copied items from the history of new clipboard. Also if you enable the sync option, you can access the copied items across your all devices (same Microsoft account sign-in require).
What do you think about the new cloud based clipboard experience on Windows 10? Let us know in the comments.
