Clipboard history: how to see everything you copied, on any device

What clipboard history is

The clipboard holds one thing. Copy something new and the last thing is gone. Clipboard history is a list kept alongside it: each copy joins the top, and you can go back and paste an older one.

It only records from the moment it is switched on. Nothing can bring back a copy made before that, on any device.

Windows 11 and Windows 10

1. Press Win+V.
2. The first time, click Turn on. The long way is Settings › System › Clipboard.
3. From then on, Win+V lists your copies. Click one to paste it.

It keeps your last 25 copies, up to 4 MB each, and clears on every restart apart from pinned items. Files are not kept. The full Windows guide → And if Win+V does nothing, here are the five fixes.

Mac

On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, the history lives in Spotlight:

1. Open System Settings › Spotlight and switch on Results from Clipboard.
2. Press ⌘+Space then ⌘+4, or click the clipboard icon in the Spotlight window.
3. Pick a copy to paste it.

Items expire after eight hours by default, and anything pasted from Spotlight loses its formatting. On Sequoia, Sonoma or any earlier macOS there is no history at all: Finder › Edit › Show Clipboard shows only the current item. The full Mac guide →

Chromebook

Press Everything+V. The Everything key is the one with the search or launcher symbol, where Caps Lock sits on other keyboards. A small menu shows your last five copies, including images. Click one to paste it. They are cleared when you sign out.

Android

Clipboard history on Android belongs to the keyboard, not the phone.

• Gboard: tap the clipboard icon in the row above the keys. The first time, switch the clipboard on. Unpinned items are deleted after one hour; touch and hold an item to pin it.
• Samsung Keyboard: tap the clipboard icon on the toolbar, or touch and hold a text box and choose Clipboard.

Another keyboard may have its own clipboard, or none.

iPhone and iPad

There is no clipboard history. The iPhone holds the one item you copied last, and that is all. To see what it is, paste it into a note. Universal Clipboard can pass that one item to your Mac, but it is still one item.

Clipboard apps on the iPhone work by asking you to save each copy into the app yourself, because iOS does not let apps watch the clipboard in the background. Where the clipboard is on iPhone →

How to check your clipboard

• What you copied last: paste it. Click in any text box or a new note and press Ctrl+V, or ⌘+V on a Mac.
• Your earlier copies: open the history above. Win+V on Windows, ⌘+Space then ⌘+4 on a Mac with Tahoe, Everything+V on a Chromebook.
• Without pasting it: our free clipboard viewer shows the text, links and formatting your copy holds, in the browser.

How long each one keeps your copies

How to clear clipboard history

• Windows: press Win+V, open the … menu on any item and choose Clear all. Or Settings › System › Clipboard › Clear clipboard data. Pinned items stay.
• Mac: switch off Results from Clipboard in Spotlight settings to stop it keeping new copies. Old ones expire on their timer.
• Chromebook: sign out.
• Android (Gboard): open the clipboard, tap the pencil, select items and delete them.
• Anywhere: copying something harmless, a single space, replaces whatever is on the clipboard now.

Where ClipTen fits

Every history above answers what did I copy earlier? They are free, they are already there, and for that question they are fine.

They are slow for the other job: the four or five things you paste again and again all afternoon. Each paste means opening a list, finding the item and picking it.

ClipTen gives those things a key instead. Ctrl+C+1 puts a copy on 1, and Ctrl+V+1 pastes it in any app, with nothing to open. On a Mac it is ⌘+C+1 and ⌘+V+1. Ten slots, 1 to 0, kept through restarts, with formatting, images and files. Slots 1 to 5 are free; all 10 are $15, once. See how it works →

Last checked October 2026.