How to permanently save items to the clipboard on Windows 11

Displaying Windows Clipboard on Windows 11 to permanently save items

The Windows Clipboard has come a long way since its early days. In previous versions, you could only copy one item at a time and paste it into a document or app. However, starting with Windows 10 in 2018, Microsoft upped the ante and added the cloud clipboard feature. It allowed copying up to 25 items, including text and images.

Plus, when you enable clipboard syncing, you can move copied text, images, and links between Windows PCs and Android devices signed in with the same Microsoft account.

The clipboard history and syncing features are game-changers for multitaskers looking to get things done on their PCs. Windows remembers items you copy so you can access them later.

Permanently save items to the Windows 11 Clipboard

It’s easier than you think

You can permanently save items you have copied through a simple feature you may already use on the Windows clipboard.

  1. Press Win + I to open Settings, select Clipboard, and toggle on Clipboard historyand Clipboard history across your devices if you plan to use multiple devices.
    showing how to enable clipboard history and clipboard sync across devices in Windows 11

  2. Once you have items copied to the clipboard, press Win + V to display the items in your clipboard history.

    showing clipboard history on Windows 11

  3. Click Pin item next to the text, link, or image you copied to the clipboard. Once you pin an item, it is not only saved to the top of the list but also saved until you unpin it and clear the clipboard.

    screenshot showing how to pin an item to clipboard to save it permanently

  4. You can clear pinned items by clicking thethree dotsand selecting Delete. Or, unpin items and head to Settings > System > Clipboard > Clear.

    clearing all clipboard data on Windows 11

Permanently saving items to the clipboard on Windows 11 is easy

Having the ability to save items permanently to the clipboard on your PC is helpful, and it works on all editions of Windows 11 including Home, Pro, Education, and Enterprise. Pinning items is especially useful when working on a project requiring repeated use of the same text, link, or image. You no longer need to keep the item’s original source pulled up in a document or open tab in your browser to find it to copy and paste. When you pin an item, you save it permanently until you unpin or delete it. It’s that easy. No extra steps are required. Of course, if you need to clear individual items later, it is possible from the cloud clipboard UI (Win + V) or using the Settings app.