How to View Clipboard in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Everything you need to know about a useful feature for more productive work.

What is the clipboard history

The standard clipboard that everyone is used to using through the context menu "Copy" and "Paste" or via the Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V combination has only one "memory cell." This can be very limited. Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft introduced the clipboard history, which can remember up to 25 items. You can copy and paste text, links, images, and other content.

How to enable clipboard history in Windows 10 and Windows 11

By default, the feature is inactive. You can activate it as follows.

While holding down the Win key (with the "window" symbol), press V on the keyboard. You will see a prompt to enable clipboard history with the corresponding button.

If nothing happens when you press Win + V, you can activate the feature in the settings. To do this, right-click the "Start" menu and select "Settings." Then, in the "System" → "Clipboard" section, turn on the toggle as shown in the screenshot above.

How to view clipboard history in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Once enabled, the system will start saving everything you copy or cut to the clipboard.

To view the history, press Win + V. A pop-up window will display a list of saved items, which you can move to a convenient location. Remembering the combination is easy - just like a regular paste, but instead of Ctrl, you use the Win key.

How to paste a copied item somewhere

To paste an item into a document or, for example, into a search bar, simply click on the desired text, link, or image in the list, after which the clipboard will automatically close. Additionally, you can use the arrow keys for navigation and Enter to paste.

How to pin a desired item

If you often need to paste the same data such as credentials, links, or phone numbers, you can pin them in the clipboard so they are always at hand.

To do this, simply click on the pin icon next to the desired item.

How to clear clipboard history

As mentioned above, the clipboard has only 25 cells. When they are filled, the oldest items are deleted when new items are recorded.

Each of them can be deleted individually by clicking on the three dots in the list and selecting the trash icon. To free up space in the entire clipboard, use the "Clear all" button.

Additionally, the clipboard is automatically cleared after restarting and shutting down the computer. All items except pinned ones disappear from memory.