On Windows 11, you have a built-in clipboard manager that keeps a record of everything you’ve copied and lets you access previously copied items as required from the history. To access a specific clipboard item, whether it is text or an image, you must first open the clipboard and scroll down the list until you find it. For instance, say you copied a URL or a code snippet earlier in the day and want to use it again. Rather than scouring your brain or looking through web pages, you can simply launch the Windows clipboard manager and access the clipboard item.
In this quick and easy tutorial, I will show you how to open the clipboard on Windows in two ways. Additionally, I’ll also show you how to pin and clear clipboard items as needed.
Open Clipboard on Windows
You can launch or open the Windows clipboard by pressing the Windows key + V keyboard shortcut. Once the clipboard manager opens, you will see a list of all the previously copied items such as text, rich text, and images. To access a specific item, scroll down to the clipboard item and double-click on it. This action will paste the selected item and copy it back to the clipboard.
Alternatively, press Windows key + . (period) to open the Emoji panel and then navigate to the clipboard tab.
Question: Why don’t I see previously copied items in the Windows clipboard manager?
Answer: If you don’t see any previously copied items in the clipboard window then it means that the Clipboard History feature is turned off. You should enable the clipboard history feature. You can turn it on by clicking on the Turn On button in the Clipboard window. Alternatively, open the Settings window (Win + I), go to the System > Clipboard page, and turn on the Clipboard History feature.
Pin a specific item in the clipboard
In the clipboard manager, you can pin entries. That way, the pinned entries will stay on top of the clipboard manager and easy to access. Additionally, pinned items aren’t deleted automatically when you clear the clipboard.
To pin a clipboard item, open the clipboard using the Win + V keyboard shortcut, find the clipboard item you want to pin, and then click on the Pin icon.
Clear clipboard on Windows
You can also single clipboard entry or clear the entire clipboard history at once. Here’s how to do it.
To delete a specific item from the clipboard, click on the item’s menu icon (…) and then click on the Delete icon.
To clear the entire clipboard history, click on the Clear All button at the top. You can also create a clear clipboard shortcut.
That is it. I hope this simple tutorial helped you open the clipboard on Windows. The method shown above works on Windows 11 and Windows 10.
If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
