What is clipboard history?

The clipboard temporarily holds copied data until you paste it elsewhere. Each new copy replaces the current clipboard contents. If you need earlier items, you need a saved history.

Clipboard history is a collection of previously copied items: plain text, formatted text (RTF or HTML), images, and file lists. Each saved item is called a clip.

Windows 10 and 11 have a built-in clipboard history that you can open with Win + V. It is useful for recent items, but its capacity and supported formats are limited.

For a larger, searchable history, use a clipboard manager such as Clipdiary. It saves plain text, formatted text, HTML, images, and file lists for later use.

What can you do with clipboard history?

• Quickly copy saved data back to the clipboard.
• Paste a clip directly into the application you are using.
• Search for a clip by its contents.
• See which program the data came from.
• Delete clips you no longer need.