How to Access Your Clipboard on Android

The ability to copy and paste is a basic and simple function of any Android smartphone or tablet. However, if you want to take it to the next level, take full advantage of the clipboard feature to find everything you’ve copied. Let’s get started.

Like many things in Android, the clipboard feature works differently depending on your device’s skin and Android version. Samsung and LG phones have their own built-in clipboards. Other devices can only access the clipboard through a keyboard app.

For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be focusing on using the clipboard with a keyboard app. This method will work on any Android device.

First, you’ll need a keyboard app that has a clipboard feature. Two popular choices are Google’s Gboard and Microsoft’s SwiftKey. The clipboards in these two apps work very similarly.

Once you have your keyboard installed and set up, we can try the clipboard. First, copy some text or a link. The clipboard does not support images.

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Next, go to the app where you want to paste whatever you copied and tap the text box to bring up the keyboard. Look for a clipboard icon in the top toolbar.

This will open the clipboard, and you’ll see the recently copied item at the front of the list. Simply tap any of the options in the clipboard to paste it into the text field.

Android does not save items to the clipboard forever. After a while, the oldest clipboard items will be deleted. Both Gboard and SwiftKey allow you to “pin” items to the clipboard to prevent them from being deleted after an hour. This can be done by long-pressing an item and choosing the “Pin” option.

If you find yourself copying and pasting a lot on Android, the clipboard is an invaluable tool. You can copy a bunch of things at once and then paste them independently without hopping back and forth.

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