Windows stores the last copied or cut item in a temporary storage area called the Clipboard memory till you restart or log off the computer. If you copy or cut something else, the earlier item gets replaced with the new one. For privacy or security purposes, you may, at times, feel the need to clear the clipboard memory, to prevent Clipboard Data Theft. Should you wish and need to clear your clipboard frequently, you can create a desktop shortcut to clear the clipboard, or you could add an item to your desktop right-click context menu.
How to empty Clipboard in Windows 11/10
To clear the Clipboard in Windows 11/10, you can create a Shortcut, use Command Prompt or add Clear Clipboard to Context Menu. Let us take a look at these in detail.
1] Clear Clipboard in Windows using Shortcut
Right-click on the desktop, select New > Shortcut. In the Location box, type the following:
%windir%\System32\cmd /c echo off | clip
Click Next and name the shortcut as Clear Clipboard. Click Finish.
Additionally, you may right-click on this new shortcut and select Properties. Here you could do the following three things if you wish:
- Give it a suitable new icon using the Change icon button
- Make the windows Run Minimized
- Give it a keyboard shortcut key.
2] Clear Clipboard History in Windows using Command Prompt
To clear the Clipboard History using the command line, open Command prompt and execute the following command:
echo off | clip
That’s it! Your clipboard history will have got cleared!
3] Add Clear Clipboard to Context Menu in Windows
Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\
In the left pane, right-click on Shell and select New > Key, and name it Clear Clipboard.
Next, right-click on this newly created Clear Clipboard key, select New > Key and name it Command.
Now in the right pane, double-click on Default, select Modify, and in the Value Data box, give it the following Value Data: cmd /c echo off | clip
Click OK. Press F5 to refresh the registry and exit it.
You will now see the Clear Clipboard entry in the desktop context menu. You can use it to clear the Clipboard memory.
TIP: You can also easily add Clear Clipboard to your Context Menu using our Ultimate Windows Tweaker.
The Windows Clipboard is very basic in nature and does not offer many features. As a result, many free Clipboard alternatives like ArchiveClipboard, Enhanced Clipboard Manager, CopyCat, Clipboardic, Orange Note, Ditto, Clipboard Magic, etc, are available on the internet.
What is the Shortcut key for Clear clipboard?
Once you have created a shortcut to clear the Clipboard, as explained above, right-click on the icon and select Properties. Open the Shortcut tab and place your mouse cursor in the Shortcut key field.Now press the Keyboard combination you would like to use to empty the clipboard. Make sure to select a keyboard combination that hasn’t been used – like, say, Ctrl+Shift+C. Press Apply/OK and exit. Now when you press Ctrl+Shift+C, the clipboard will get cleared.
How do I sync Clipboard History across devices in Windows 11?
From the Clipboard settings, you can also synchronize your clipboard history across your other devices. For that, you need to click on the Get started button present next to the Share across devices option. Then, verify your identity and then use the Automatically sync text that I copy or Manually sync text that I copy option.
Read next: Windows Clipboard Manager Tips and Tricks.
