Tag Archives: copy and paste

How to Activate Windows 10 Clipboard History

Office, Windows, , , , ,

Finally, a way to capture multiple items from Windows screens and use them over and over again. It is not on by default so let’s look at how to activate Windows 10 Clipboard History!

Windows 10 Clipboard History

What Clipboard History Does

Simply put, Clipboard History puts Copy and Paste on steroids. Normally, Windows stores the last object you cut or copied to the clipboard and then is replaced by the next one as it could only hold one object at a time. Clipboard History changed that when it first appeared in Windows 10 at the end of 2018.

The feature supports text, HTML, and images less than 4 MB in size. Anything larger will not be stored in the history. Clipboard history stores up to 25 items. Once maximum is reached, oldest items are replaced with the new ones. Be aware that the contents are stored in RAM so any entries will be lost when your device is restarted unless you pin those you want to keep.

How to Activate Windows 10 Clipboard History

  1. Open Start menu and click on the Settings (gear) icon.
  2. Click on the System option on the Settings page.
  3. Select the Clipboard option from the left of the screen (sidebar).
  4. Click the toggle on for Save multiple items on the right panel to enable clipboard history feature on Windows 10.

Setting to turn on Windows Clipboard History

How to Retrieve and Use Clipboard History

If you have done a lot of copying and pasting, you are familiar with CTRL X to cut (move); CTRL C to copy and CTRL V to paste. Other methods such as right clicking selected object and choosing Cut or Copy also work. To view and use the Clipboard History, just press the Windows key + V key and scroll the contents. Newest entries will be at the top. Click on the entry you want to paste.

Delete or Pin Clipboard Contents

If you have an entry you want to save for future use, point at it and click the ellipsis (…) in the upper right corner to display the Delete, Pin and Clear
All options. Choose Pin to keep it available after Windows has done any Restart. Anything not pinned, will be deleted any time Windows resets.

Delete will remove only the selected object. Clear All will empty the Clipboard so you can start over and again store up to 25 items.

Windows Clipboard History dialog box

Microsoft Office Programs

Note: Clipboard History will capture from all of your screens, not just Microsoft programs. The MS Office Clipboard which has been around for many years, can store up to 24 items, but only works between Office applications.

If you are only copying and pasting between Office programs, use its own Clipboard. My experience is if you have both clipboards activated, they will both capture any text entries but the Windows clipboard doesn’t grab images inside of the Office file.

Turn on the Office Clipboard:

It is in the Home tab | Clipboard group. Just click the dialog box launcher in the corner of the group:

Turn on MS Office Clipboard

Now every cut or copy you do in any Office program will display on the Clipboard and be available in all of them.

Note: Windows Snip and Sketch has replaced the Snipping Tool and the popular garage Snip app for single copy and paste actions. If you are not familiar with this, get more information from Microsoft at: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-snip-sketch-take-screenshots-windows-10-october-2018-update

Want some more Windows 10 features that you may not be using? Take a look at my blog on Virtual Desktops. They are fun and useful too: https://gaylelarson.com/create-virtual-desktops-in-windows-10/ 

Thanks for reading! Have you been using Clipboard History? Let me know how it has worked for you in the Comments below.

 

AutoFill with a Custom List in Excel

Excel, Office, , , , , ,

Create your Own Lists to Work with AutoFill

You may already use some of Excel’s AutoFill capabilities to complete names of months, days and years and/or to copy formulas, so you know it is an amazing time saver. Before we explore creating your own custom lists, here are a few tricks to tame the AutoFill feature:

Excel just needs to see a pattern to fill out the remaining cells. Common sequences only require one entry, such as Monday or Friday, to have the following days of the week automatically fill as you drag the icon down or across. (The Fill handle is on the bottom-right corner of the cell border – a small, black plus sign). The same is true of months or quarters. Excel automatically inserts the next entry and repeats the pattern if you continue to drag past the ending entry.

Trick: If you have data in the cells to the left of the column where you want to use the Fill handle, just double-click on the Fill symbol in the cell that you want copied, and results will fill in down through that number of rows.

Sometimes, AutoFill hiccups when you ask it to repeat a pattern, as in a numbering sequence. For instance, if you type a “1” in a cell and try to AutoFill, you will get only 1’s in the copied cells. You must put in a second number, select both cells, and then AutoFill for Excel to get the pattern. You can enter “1” in a cell and then “2” in a cell below or to the right, and you are off and running. This also works for step-numbering, i.e., enter “1” in first cell and then “5” in second cell, select both and AutoFill. (Same is true for years).


Trick: Save yourself some typing and mouse action:

  • Enter the first number
  • Hold down CTRL key, point at Fill Handle and drag down (or across)
  • Presto, you have sequential numbers (or years). For step-numbering, you still have to type and select at least two entries.

Define your own series that AutoFill can use:

You can enter any list of entries in an Excel worksheet, select the cells and drag down or across and that pattern will be repeated but if the series is one that you want to use in other worksheets or workbooks, create your own custom list:

  • Click File tab on the ribbon and click Options at the bottom of the category list.
  • Click Advanced and then scroll down near the bottom to the General area.


  • Click the button Edit Custom Lists… Excel displays the Custom Lists dialog box.


  • Select NEW LIST in the Custom Lists list.
  • In the List Entries box, start typing the items in your fill series, in the order they should appear. This could be products or department names or list of employees in alphabetical order. Press Enter after each entry.
  • When finished click the Add button.
  • Click OK to close the dialog box.
  • Click OK to close the Excel Options dialog box.

Your custom list is now set up for AutoFill. Just type an entry from that list that you want to start with, select the cell, and then drag the Fill handle. Excel fills the selected cells with the items from your custom list in the same order created.

Create as many custom lists as you like and you now have your own personal quick entries!