Computers

Enable Windows Clipboard History – And Alternatives

3 years ago
Read Time: 7 minutes
by Frank Mccarthy
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A few years ago, Microsoft introduced a feature in Windows that users have been craving, which has been in the IT world almost forever – but despite the long period of time, hardly anyone uses everything. We are talking about the history of the clipboard. It came with Windows 10 1809 (October 2018 Update). It is also unknown what timeline was introduced with the previous OS version 1803, but it can be called a flop, especially since Windows 11 no longer comes with this timeline. Clipboard history is much more useful and will definitely undo tools like above for many who know it. If desired, the feature also enriches your everyday life: We explain the purpose of the Clipboard and the Windows Registry for that purpose and the name (purpose of) software alternatives. You can also read how the UltraEdit programming tool shines with its clipboard history.

The top three alternatives to portfolio history:

» Ditto – a classic for many clipboards. It has nothing to do with the pokemon of the same name
» Clipboard Master – a successful alternative
» UltraEdit – keeps its own (multiple) clipboard independently of Windows

Top 55 Software for Windows PC

What is the history of the clipboard?

The clipboard history removes the drawback that the Windows clipboard is completely inflexible. The latter is sometimes called a clipboard and is a special area of main memory (RAM). The clipboard only records one record at a time. This is a problem sometimes. Basics of how the clipboard works: copy something to the clipboard (eg by selecting it, then choosing “copy” from the context menu), and paste the content somewhere else. Moving content to RAM is faster with Ctrl-C. The program in which you paste the text must support the data type in question: you can paste the selected text and copy (or cut it with Ctrl-X) into word processors, but not in MS Paint, for example. On the contrary, it is not possible to transfer images from the clipboard to the Windows editor. Programs like WordPad, LibreOffice Writer, and Word can handle both types of content.

The clipboard is a practical way to make work easier and life can’t be imagined without it. It is the lowest common denominator in software collaboration: a number of software are incompatible with each other because they do not have standardized interfaces. The principle of copy and paste (copy and paste), which enables you to use the clipboard, works almost always with application programs. Browsers, word processors, and tools of a number of other types support it. Disadvantage: If you put a second part of the content in the clipboard, the previous one will be lost. Then right click and use the context command “Paste” or use Ctrl-V to paste the second content, but not the first.

Often the criticism here is that Windows only saves one item to the clipboard. This is not entirely true: in fact, it is possible to copy several lines of text or several selected files at once; The correct term is “data set” – Windows doesn’t maintain two of those. Unless you use additional tools. This is no longer very important since Windows 10: because the clipboard history function on the panel keeps the history of the oldest clipboard content in the inventory.

Thus, other programs for accessing previous clipboard content are largely off the table, but not entirely: anyone who wants additional functionality still needs external clipboard helpers. Indispensable if you are using Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or earlier than Windows 10: there are no equivalent functions on the board here. And even if you are not satisfied with dealing with the functionality of Windows, alternative applications go into the hacking process.

Windows 10/11: Enable Clipboard History

Windows 10/11: View Clipboard History - Clipboard Guide — Use the slide key to activate the Windows 10/11 clipboard history.

We tested the following on Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 21H2. You have two options for running clipboard history:

1. Open the Settings app with Win-i and select “System > Clipboard” on the left. The path is the same for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

At the top of the Clipboard History, toggle the switch so that its status is On.

2. Alternatively, press Windows-V: The shortcut is used to access the clipboard history. If the feature is inactive, a dialog box appears in which you click Turn on (Windows 10) or Activate (Windows 11). This indirectly changes the activation key in the configuration application. A message appears stating that the record is empty. close the window.

Windows 10/11: Open Clipboard History, View, View

Take a test: start Notepad, then type in 123, select the text and copy it using Ctrl-C. Repeat with 456 and 789 in turn, at the end, 789 in the clipboard, which you can see by pressing Ctrl-V to paste. The last character string appears. With Windows-V, you can access the RAM history: a popup dialog shows you the content already in the cache. Add whatever you want to your application with a click of the mouse. The current clipboard content is clicked. You can now maneuver in the program window with Ctrl-V. Any text formatting is lost when pasting via clipboard history. Clipboard history also takes into account the screenshots you take with you [Druck-S-Abf] Even with the Windows 8+ key combination [Win-Druck] made. The latter automatically places a PNG image file on disk and dumps its contents into RAM.

Insider tip: With the latest versions of Windows 10, add smileys (!) to your programs. This is done using the Windows key combination point. In Windows 11, in the smileys dialog at the top, click the icon on the far right, and go to the Clipboard history section. There you can click the contents of the previous RAM with a single click. In Windows 10, there is no matching clipboard button at the top of the Windows pip dialog.

Clear clipboard history

If you restart Windows 10 or Windows 11, your clipboard history will be lost. The advantage is that sensitive content disappears from memory. So third parties have no chance of spying. The bad thing is that you may not want to lose this data. TIP: With the COMPUTER BILD tool, you can save the clipboard text before closing with a single mouse click, and restore it automatically during the next boot process.

There is another way to delete clipboard history faster: simply deactivate it using the slider and activate it again. Or you can select Clear in the Clipboard History section of the Settings app. Alternatively, click Delete All in the Windows-V dialog. Under Windows 10, one of the three-point icons must be pressed beforehand; Under Windows 11, the mentioned option is available right away.

In the Settings app there is a switch with which you can sync your clipboard across your PC. This worked in our tests from Windows 10 PC to Windows 10 PC, but also between Windows 10 and Windows 11. It is necessary that you are signed in to both computers with an identical Microsoft account (@outlook.de-E-mail address) registered.

Alternatives: as above – instructions as above and co.

open source tool das The same Lock in the Windows notification area (bottom right of the screen; called “taskbar corner” in Windows 11). There you can call up a list of your previous clipboard entries by clicking on the Ditto tray icon. The most recent clipboard content appears at the top, double click to paste what you want into the loaded application program and replace the current clipboard content with the selected one.

Like Windows 10/11, Ditto displays thumbnail previews in overview screenshots. Windows does not offer a search function here, which you can use to locate previous clipboard text. Furthermore, Ditto preserves the text formatting and shows the date and time stamp on “Added” when you hover over the inserted clipboard entries. Drag and drop Ditto text snippets to your desktop to save them as a TXT file. The application is linked to the Windows auto-starter, so it starts automatically at system startup and the data that is taken care of is preserved via reboots.

Programming Editor Ultradite It is shareware so it costs nothing unlike Notepad++. Modern ribbons decorate the surface. The tool has its own multiple clipboard, isolated from Windows, called Clipboard History. For example, you can use Ctrl- to switch to the inner clipboard 1, 2, or 3. If you press Ctrl-C after selecting a text, the content ends up in the corresponding clipboard.

Call the desired clipboard slot again with Ctrl- <رقم> , Paste the text snippet provided here using Ctrl-V.

alternatives the same

Free Clipboard Manager is portable and cannot be covered by other programs. It collects content from clipboard (screenshot images and text) and double-clicks what you want to return to RAM. The interface and scope of functions are very simple. In CopyQ, access the previous clipboard content by clicking Entries in the tray icon context menu. Or you can call up the program interface by left-clicking on the icon, where the click is successful by double-clicking on one of the entries. Tip: Use only one of these tools, many of them can be confusing – leave out the older clipboard managers.

Frank Mccarthy

“Certified gamer. Problem solver. Internet enthusiast. Twitter scholar. Infuriatingly humble alcohol geek. Tv guru.”

Frank Mccarthy

<p class="sign">"Certified gamer. Problem solver. Internet enthusiast. Twitter scholar. Infuriatingly humble alcohol geek. Tv guru."</p>