How to sync clipboard across devices on Windows 10

The clipboard experience on Windows 10 (version 1809) now allows you to sync your content across devices, and in this guide, you'll learn the steps to enable the feature.

Clipboard sync on Windows 10 Redstone 5
Clipboard sync on Windows 10 Redstone 5

On Windows 10, you’ve always been able to copy text and images to the clipboard and paste content on virtually any application, but it’s been a very limited experience.

Starting with version 1809 (October 2018 Update), Windows 10 introduces a clipboard experience that leverages the cloud to copy and paste content across devices. Also, the new clipboard now includes an interface (Windows key + V) to paste anything listed in the history, and you can pin items for things you paste all the time.

However, the ability to sync your content is not enabled by default. If you want to access your clipboard history across devices, you must enable the option manually in the new Clipboard settings page.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to sync your clipboard history across all your computers connected with the same Microsoft account.

How to sync clipboard history across devices

In order to enable clipboard syncing across devices on Windows 10 version 1809, do the following:

  1. Open Settings.

  2. Click on System.

  3. Click on Clipboard.

  4. Turn on the Sync across devices toggle switch.

    Windows 10 Clipboard sync settings
    Windows 10 Clipboard sync settings
  5. Select your syncing option:

    • Automatically sync text I copy: the text you copy to the clipboard will sync to your other devices.
    • Never automatically sync text that I copy: you’ll need to invoke the clipboard experience (Windows key + V) and select the content you want to sync.

Once you’ve completed the steps, every time that you copy a piece of content to the clipboard will sync accordingly to your settings.

If you can’t find this feature, it’s probably because you’re not running the version of Windows 10 that supports this feature. The clipboard experience is available starting Windows 10 version 1809 (October 2018 Update).

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.