How to Use Clipboard History in Windows 11 (Win + V Explained)

1. Turn on clipboard history

1. Press Win + V.
2. The first time, you’ll see a message saying clipboard history is off. Click Turn on.

That’s it. From now on, Windows remembers the things you copy.

You can also switch it on in Settings → System → Clipboard → Clipboard history.

2. Paste something you copied earlier

1. Copy things as normal with Ctrl + C.
2. When you want to paste, press Win + V instead of Ctrl + V.
3. Click the item you want and it’s pasted where your cursor is.

Clipboard history works with text, HTML and images (up to 4 MB per item). It keeps up to 25 items.

3. Pin items you use a lot

Pinned items stay in the list permanently, even after a restart.

1. Press Win + V.
2. Click the ⋯ (three dots) next to an item.
3. Choose Pin.

This is great for things you paste often, like your address, email sign-off, bank sort code or a standard reply.

Note: Unpinned items are cleared every time you restart your PC.

4. Use the emoji and symbol panel

The same panel includes emoji, GIFs and symbols:

• Press Win + . (full stop) or Win + ; (semicolon).
• Use the tabs to switch between emoji, GIFs, kaomoji ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and symbols, such as £, €, ©, ° and →.

This is much easier than remembering Alt codes.

5. Sync your clipboard to other PCs

If you use more than one Windows PC with the same Microsoft account:

1. Go to Settings → System → Clipboard.
2. Turn on Clipboard across your devices.
3. Choose whether to sync automatically or only when you choose.

6. Clear your clipboard history

If you’ve copied something sensitive, such as a password:

• Press Win + V, then click Clear all to remove everything except pinned items.
• Or click ⋯ → Delete next to a single item.

Security tip: Clear your clipboard after copying passwords, especially on a shared computer. Better still, use a password manager that clears the clipboard automatically.