Like everyone else, you regularly use copy and paste to duplicate content on your PC. But you probably don’t know that Windows has memory to store and reuse everything you copy…
If you use a computer at all in your life or in your work, you are necessarily familiar with copy and paste, this ultra practical method which allows you to save an element visible on the screen, such as a text, a file or a image, and instantly copy it to another location. Associated with the famous keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C And Ctrl+V on PC, this basic function quickly becomes an essential tool in many everyday tasks, whether for writing a text, carrying out an Internet search, retrieving an image or filling out a form.
Unfortunately, it often happens that we have to juggle multiple successive copies and pastes and we often find ourselves inadvertently erasing crucial information that we had previously recorded. Indeed, the data recorded via copy and paste is saved in a space called Clipboard which, for a long time, could only contain one piece of information at a time. Thus, copying information to the Clipboard erased the previous one and required you to think carefully about the order in which to copy and paste.
However, this problem is history because for several years now, Windows has had a special function allowing you to keep data pasted in the Clipboard: called History, it allows you to successively record several pieces of information in order to recall them. and stick them when the time comes, when you need them again.
To make this magical tool appear, simply use the keyboard shortcut Windows + V (simultaneously press the Windows logo key and the letter V on the keyboard). In the window that appears, you will find all the textual data that you previously copied. If your mouse cursor is positioned in a document or field that can receive text, then you can insert any data from the history by simply clicking on it in the list. It is also possible to pin the data you use most often to the top of the list, in order to find and paste it more quickly. And of course, you can clear your clipboard history via the button Clear allso as not to leave confidential information lying around once you no longer need it!
Clipboard history is normally enabled by default on your computer, but if nothing happens when you use the keyboard shortcut Windows + Vthis means that you may have to activate it manually in your computer’s settings. Whether on Windows 10 or Windows 11, go to the menu Settings > System > Clipboard and click the button to the right of the option Clipboard History. The function will then be activated and you will be able to take advantage of this tool which will greatly facilitate your life in many daily tasks.
Surprisingly, Mac users do not have a native Clipboard history, macOS only allows you to view the last copied information, and must therefore turn to third-party applications to obtain this function. In the Linux world, on the other hand, most popular distributions include a basic copy and paste history tool, which is often more complete and ergonomic than that of Windows.