The best clipboard managers for Windows in 2026

Windows remembers only the last thing you copied, unless you give it help. A clipboard manager keeps a history of what you copy, so you can paste a link from this morning, a paragraph from yesterday or a screenshot from an hour ago without going back to find it. The best clipboard managers in 2026 range from the one built into Windows to free tools such as Ditto and CopyQ that keep a long, searchable history, and to a few that focus on something specific: cleaning up text (ClipboardFusion), a launcher (Raycast), or privacy (Barside).

This guide compares eight clipboard managers for Windows on what they keep, how you find and paste an old copy, how they handle passwords and private data, and what they cost as of September 2026.

The best clipboard managers at a glance

1. Ditto: the best free clipboard manager for most Windows users.
2. Windows clipboard history: the best if you want nothing to install and only need your last few copies.
3. CopyQ: the best for power users who want tabs, editing and scripting, and the same tool on Linux or macOS.
4. Barside: the best for a private history that is encrypted and skips passwords, on Windows, Linux and Mac.
5. ClipboardFusion: the best for cleaning up and transforming text as you copy it.
6. ClipClip: the best for organizing reusable clips into folders.
7. Raycast: the best if you also want a launcher, with clipboard history built in.
8. PowerToys Advanced Paste: the best for pasting in another format, such as plain text, Markdown or JSON.

How we chose

We compared clipboard managers that run on Windows 10 and 11 on five things:

• What they keep: text, images, rich text (HTML) and other formats, how many items, and for how long.
• Finding and pasting: search, pins, groups or folders, and whether the tool pastes into the app you were using.
• Privacy: whether the history is encrypted, whether copies from password managers are skipped, and whether anything leaves your computer.
• Sync: whether your history can follow you to another computer.
• Price: from each product's official pages in September 2026.

Barside is our product. We include it where it fits, and say where others are better. Barside's clipboard history is deliberately small and private: it keeps up to 200 text items and 30 images, and it never syncs. If you want a bigger history, groups, tabs or sync, Ditto and CopyQ are better picks, which is why Barside is fourth here.

Comparison table

The best clipboard managers, reviewed

1. Ditto

Ditto describes itself as an extension to the Windows clipboard: you copy something, and Ditto stores it in a database so you can get it back later. It is free and open source, runs on Windows, and is also in the Microsoft Store.

Best for: most Windows users who want a proven, free clipboard manager.

Strengths:

• Saves any type of information that can be put on the clipboard: text, images, HTML and custom formats.
• Search, and groups to organize the items you keep.
• A hotkey to open it from any app (by default, Ctrl with the backtick key), and custom shortcuts.
• Sharing between computers, with encryption for network transfers.
• No login, no cloud and no telemetry, in the project's own words.

Limits: Windows only. Because there is no cloud account, your history stays on the computers you set up yourself.

Price: free (GPL-3.0).

2. Windows clipboard history

Windows 10 and 11 include a clipboard history. The first time, press Win+V and choose Turn on. After that, Win+V shows your recent copies, and you click one to paste it.

Best for: people who want a few recent copies back, with nothing to install.

Strengths:

• Built in and free.
• Pin items you use often, so they stay after a restart.
• Sync across your devices when they use the same Microsoft or work account: in Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Clipboard and turn on Clipboard history across your devices.

Limits: it keeps up to 25 entries, each up to 4 MB, in text, HTML and bitmap formats. Older items drop off unless you pin them, and the history is cleared every time you restart, except for pinned items.

Price: free with Windows.

3. CopyQ

CopyQ is an advanced clipboard manager with editing and scripting features. It watches the clipboard and saves what you copy in tabs you customize, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Best for: power users who want to organize, edit and automate their clipboard, and anyone who uses more than one operating system.

Strengths:

• Tabs for different kinds of clips, a quick filter to find items, and notes and tags on items.
• Stores text, HTML, images and any other custom format.
• Edit an item in place, with a simple Vim-like editor if you want one.
• System-wide shortcuts with custom commands, a command-line interface and a scripting API.
• Built-in encryption since version 14.0.0: turn on Encrypt Tabs in Preferences and set a password, which can be kept in Windows Credential Store, the macOS Keychain or your Linux keyring.
• It can ignore copies from windows you name, or copies that contain text you specify.

Limits: the depth takes time to learn. Encryption protects the history CopyQ stores, but exports made with its scripting commands are written unencrypted (the File → Export menu offers to encrypt the file).

Price: free (GPLv3).

4. Barside

Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac that keeps notes, tasks, reading and recordings in one library on your computer. Its clipboard history is off until you turn it on, and it is built to be private first. Read the full guide to Barside's clipboard history.

Best for: people who copy sensitive things (passwords, codes, client details) and want a clipboard history that stays encrypted and out of backups.

Strengths:

• Turn on Keep clipboard history in Settings → Clipboard history. Then press Alt+Shift+V in any app (or choose Clipboard history in the tray menu), and a small popup opens near your mouse.
• Type to search, use the arrow keys to choose, and press Enter to paste into the app you were using. Shift+Enter copies without pasting, Ctrl+P pins, Shift+Delete deletes and Esc closes. If Barside cannot paste (for example into an app running as administrator), the item stays copied and the popup tells you to press Ctrl+V.
• Keeps text up to 100,000 characters and images up to 8 MB. Repeated copies move to the top, pinned items never expire, and Keep items for is 1, 7 or 30 days.
• Never keeps copies that other apps mark as private (password managers do this), two-step codes copied by Barside Passwords, anything copied while the Barside Passwords window is in front, AI keys, or anything copied while the screen is locked.
• The history is encrypted on your computer (with Windows' own encryption on Windows, your system keyring on Linux and the macOS Keychain in Barside for Mac), and it is never in backups or sync. Turning the feature off deletes the history. On Windows, the popup is hidden from screen sharing.

Limits: it keeps at most 200 text items and 30 images. It stores text as plain text and images as PNG, so it does not keep copied files or rich formatting. There are no groups, folders or snippets, and no sync, by design.

Price: free.

5. ClipboardFusion

ClipboardFusion, from Binary Fortress Software, is a clipboard tool for Windows 10 (version 1607 or later) and 11 that focuses on changing what you copy, not only remembering it.

Best for: people who clean up pasted text all day, such as writers, support agents and developers.

Strengths:

• Remove clipboard formatting automatically, and replace clipboard text with rules you define.
• Macros written in C#, and triggers that run actions on clipboard events (the richer trigger options are in Pro).
• A clipboard manager with recent and pinned items.
• With Pro, sync your clipboard with other computers and mobile devices, with 256-bit encryption for synced data. Pro includes companion apps for macOS, iOS, Android and the Chrome browser, and syncing uses a Binary Fortress account.

Limits: the full app is for Windows only, and the free version lacks online sync and several trigger options. It needs the .NET desktop runtime and WebView2, which it installs if they are missing.

Price: free, or a Pro lifetime license from US$19 (Pro Standard) or US$29 (Pro Personal), valid for all future versions (as of September 2026). Each download includes a 30-day Pro trial.

6. ClipClip

ClipClip is a clipboard manager for Windows, free for personal use, that doubles as a small workspace for reusable clips.

Best for: people who keep a library of snippets, replies and images, and want them in folders.

Strengths:

• Stores up to 1,000 clips, memory permitting, and ClipClip says the history is encrypted on your computer.
• Folders and pinned clips, with custom shortcuts for quick access. You can lock a folder with a password.
• Edit clips in place, with rich text and images.
• Offline text converters (change case, Base64, MD5) and a paste menu that previews content before you paste.
• Built-in screen capture and recording, and the option to connect Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox to sync and back up clips.

Limits: Windows only. ClipClip is free for personal use and asks people who use it for work to buy a license.

Price: free for personal use, schoolwork and hobbies. For work with clients or in a company, ClipClip recommends a commercial license at US$49 once per user (as of September 2026).

7. Raycast

Raycast is a keyboard launcher for macOS and Windows. On Windows it needs Windows 10 (21H2 or later) or Windows 11. Among its many commands is Clipboard History: everything you have copied, ready to paste into the active app.

Best for: people who want one keyboard-driven launcher for apps, commands and clipboard history.

Strengths: clipboard history alongside app search, extensions and other commands, installed with WinGet. Free to download and use.

Limits: according to Raycast's pricing page, the free plan keeps clipboard history for 3 months, and Pro removes that limit. If all you want is a clipboard manager, a whole launcher is a lot to take on. See our Raycast alternative for Windows guide for how Barside's search bar compares.

Price: free; Pro is US$10 a month or US$96 a year (as of September 2026).

8. PowerToys Advanced Paste

Advanced Paste is part of Microsoft PowerToys, the free, open-source utilities for Windows. It is less a history than a way to paste what you copied in the format you need.

Best for: anyone who often pastes into places that need plain text, Markdown or JSON.

Strengths:

• Win+Shift+V opens the Advanced Paste window. Paste as plain text directly works without the window on Ctrl+Win+Alt+V.
• Paste as plain text, Markdown or JSON, or as a .txt, .png or .html file.
• Image to text extracts text from an image on the clipboard with local OCR.
• An Access Clipboard History option that shows earlier copies in the Advanced Paste window.
• Optional Paste with AI, off by default, with online providers such as OpenAI or local ones such as Ollama.

Limits: it is a paste tool first. For a long history with search and pins, pair it with one of the clipboard managers above.

Price: free (MIT license).

Clipboard managers and privacy

A clipboard manager records everything you copy: passwords, two-step codes, account numbers, private messages. Before you choose one, check four things.

1. Does it skip private copies? Password managers can mark their copies so that clipboard history tools leave them out. Barside skips copies marked private, as well as codes from its own password manager and AI keys. CopyQ can ignore copies from windows you name, such as your password manager. If your tool does not skip them, clear the history after you copy a password.
2. Is the history encrypted? Barside encrypts its history on your computer. CopyQ can encrypt its tabs with a password from version 14.0.0, and ClipClip says it keeps its history encrypted on your computer. If a tool stores its history in plain form, anyone with access to your user account can read it.
3. Does anything leave your computer? Windows clipboard history syncs through your Microsoft account when you turn that on, ClipboardFusion Pro syncs through its online features, Ditto shares clips with the computers you set up, and ClipClip can sync through a cloud drive you connect. Barside's clipboard history never leaves your computer, and it is never in backups.
4. What happens when you step away? Barside stops recording while the screen is locked, and on Windows its popup is hidden from screen sharing, so an old copy does not appear in a meeting.

Keep secrets out of any clipboard history when you can: a password manager that fills logins for you is safer than copying and pasting. See the built-in password manager guide for how Barside Passwords fills logins and marks the codes it copies.

Default shortcuts

Clipboard managers compete for the same few keys. These are the defaults, and they do not clash, so you can run several at once:

• Windows clipboard history: Win+V
• Ditto: Ctrl with the backtick key
• Barside: Alt+Shift+V (change it in Settings → Hotkeys and aliases)
• PowerToys Advanced Paste: Win+Shift+V, and Ctrl+Win+Alt+V to paste plain text directly

Barside refuses a hotkey that another Barside command already has, and it tells you when another app holds the one you picked, so you can choose another or open clipboard history from the tray menu instead.

Set up a private clipboard history in Barside

If privacy is the reason you are choosing, this is the whole setup, and it takes about a minute:

1. Download Barside, open it, and go to Settings → Clipboard history.
2. Turn on Keep clipboard history. Barside only starts keeping copies from this moment.
3. Choose Keep items for: 1, 7 or 30 days. Shorter is safer if you handle client or customer data.
4. Copy as usual. When you need something from earlier, press Alt+Shift+V in any app, type a word from it, and press Enter to paste.
5. Press Ctrl+P on anything you want to keep. Pinned items never expire.
6. To start over, choose Clear history in Settings. To stop for good, turn the switch off, which deletes the history.

If you also use Linux or a Mac

Most clipboard managers on this list are Windows tools: Windows clipboard history, Ditto, ClipClip and PowerToys run only on Windows, and ClipboardFusion's full app is for Windows too. If you switch between systems:

• CopyQ runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, with the same tabs and scripts on each.
• Barside runs on Windows and Linux, as an AppImage or a .deb, and on Mac. On Linux it checks the clipboard twice a second, pastes with xdotool when it is installed, and keeps the history encrypted with your system keyring. Barside for Mac watches the clipboard, pastes with ⌘V once you give it the Accessibility permission, and encrypts the history with the macOS Keychain.
• Raycast runs on macOS and Windows.
• ClipboardFusion Pro adds companion apps for macOS, iOS and Android that sync your clipboard text with the Windows app.

How to choose a clipboard manager

A good setup for many people is a clipboard manager plus a way to capture text you cannot copy. Barside's screen text capture reads text from any part of the screen with Alt+Shift+S, and the best OCR tools guide compares the other options.

Tips for using a clipboard manager well

• Pin what you paste every week. Addresses, account numbers you share on purpose, standard replies and code snippets belong in pins, so they never scroll away.
• Use a short retention for sensitive work. In Barside, Keep items for can be as short as 1 day. Pinned items stay regardless.
• Clear the history after sensitive tasks. In Barside, Clear history in Settings deletes everything after you confirm. In Windows, press Win+V and choose Clear all.
• Paste plain text between apps. Formatting from web pages and documents often clashes with where you paste it. Plain text avoids that.
• Search before you copy again. A good history saves you the trip back to the original page, as long as you type a word from what you copied.

More guides

• Barside keeps its clipboard history next to a search bar and hotkeys for any app, which finds your notes, tasks and bookmarks from anywhere.
• Coming from Raycast? Read the Raycast alternative for Windows guide.
• Leaving a paid password manager? Compare the 1Password alternative.
• Want every tool on your own computer? See the best local-first apps.