How to View Your iPhone Clipboard History?

| Updated on July 23, 2024
iPhone Clipboard History

Copying and pasting texts or images is a common thing everyone does in their daily lives, whether it’s for personal or work use. I know, we all have wondered about where all this copied content goes. And at some point, we all needed to use our iPhone clipboard history but couldn’t find a way through it.

Copy-paste iPhone Ref. Image

Whatever you copy on your iPhone or iPad, gets saved to your clipboard, but it’s a one-time deal as the device clipboard saves one item at one time. In such cases, restoring the complete clipboard history becomes impossible. 

So, we have come up with some solutions and suggestions for your “how to see clipboard history iPhone-related issues”. Continue reading and see if they could help. 

Can You See Clipboard History on iPhone/iPad?

iPhone’s clipboard feature is one of the best things to make your work easier and more effective. A clipboard can be used for various purposes, like copying text from one page and pasting it to the other, saving images in no time, or copying important URLs. Clipboard saves time and eliminates the risks of mistakes.

However, unfortunately, the answer to “Does iPhone have a clipboard history” is No. As there’s no way you can manually check your clipboard’s entire history on your iPhone, and neither there’s any in-built app to do so. The last item you copied gets saved in the phone’s virtual memory. But there are a few workarounds to get the last history items; let’s check them out. 

Also Read:- 16 Effective Fixes for the ‘FaceTime not Working’ Issue

View Clipboard History on iPhone/iPad with Notes

The fastest and easiest way to find out how to see clipboard history on iPhone or iPad is by using the Notes app on your device. You’ll just need to follow some simple steps. Here’s how: 

  • Launch the Notes app on your iPhone/iPad.
    Tap on Notes
  • Tap on the Pen icon to create a new note.
    Tap on the pen icon
  • Press on the note tab for a few seconds and click on Paste
    Click on Paste
  • Now, whatever you copied previously will appear on the notes tab. 
    Pasted Content

By using this technique, you can find out the last thing you copied on your clipboard, and even save it on your notes app. Managing the notes app is simple, and you can keep all your items saved separately or together as well. Now, let’s check out the Shortcuts app and find out how to check clipboard history iPhone/iPad. 

Also Read:- How to Charge Apple Pencil through iPad! 

View Clipboard History on iPhone/iPad Using Shortcuts

Shortcuts is an amazing application offered to iOS users, it can be used in multiple ways. The app allows its users to create shortcuts for any tasks performed by them in their daily lives to save time and screen taps. It can also solve the problem of “How can I see my copy-paste history on my iPhone or iPad”? Here’s how: 

  • Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad.
    Tap on Shortcuts app
  • Tap on the Gallery icon.
    Tap on Gallery icon
  • On the search panel, type Adjust Clipboard and tap on the + icon to add a shortcut.
    Type Adjust Clipboard

After adding a clipboard to your shortcuts, whenever you tap on Adjust Clipboard in the shortcuts app, you’ll get a view of your clipboard’s latest history. Shortcuts apps let users customize their shortcuts while choosing names and icons for their shortcuts. You can also activate Siri for your shortcuts as well.

View Clipboard History on iPhone/iPad Using Third-Party Apps

Though iOS has not come up with any copy-and-paste history iPhone or iPad feature yet, there are a number of third-party applications available to answer your question on “how to see your copy-and-paste history iPhone/iPad holds?”. Let’s discuss some of the most used clipboard-managing tools: 

  1. Clipboard++ – Clipboard++ is a free clipboard manager available for both iOS and Android. It not only saves all the copied items on your iPhone but also allows direct calling on copied numbers or opening copied URLs on the browser on long press. It allows editing on the copied items as well. 
  1. Clip+ – Clip+ is a multipurpose tool. It is customizable with a lot of features. It can transform texts with its text editor, combine multiple items in one drag, provides iCloud sync, share extensions, edit items, supports Siri for shortcuts, etc. Clip+ can be used in any iPhone and iPad model, and it costs $2.99.
  1. Paste – Paste clipboard manager is designed for Mac, iPhone, and iPad as well. It provides unlimited clipboard history access, it’s customizable, Siri-supported, and provides a Paste keyboard for easy access. You can buy it for $14.99/per year from the Apple Store or for $9.99/per month from Setapp. 
  1. Copied – Copied clipboard manager is an easy-to-use application that provides an in-app browser to save items. Copied save images, texts, URLs, etc. as clippings. It provides features like a customizable app interface, text formatting, etc. It’s free with in-app purchases but for Mac, it’s $7.99. 
  1. Anybuffer – Anybuffer is a data organizer. It helps users save links, images, texts, etc., and organize them on Shelves for a better-organized look. It is a free application that offers in-app purchases.

These were some of the best options available on the App Store for managing clipboard history and more. Now, let’s look at the correct method to clear clipboard history on iPhone. 

Note:- Third-party clipboard managing applications can access your keyboard. This means they can get access to any of your personal information like messages, passwords, bank account info, etc.

How to Clear Clipboard History on iPhone/iPad?

There are times when you copy or paste any confidential information on your clipboard unknowingly like any passwords, banking info, etc., which can be a security threat to your account, as several app companies earlier, were accused of accessing user’s keypads without permission.

So, it’s always better to keep your personal information history clean. Steps of clearing the clipboard are as easy as deleting all contacts on iPhone.  There are two ways through which your iPhone copy history can be cleared: 

  1. Clear Clipboard History Manually – Clearing your iPhone’s or iPad’s clipboard history manually is the easiest task, here’s how- 
  • Launch any text app like Whatsapp, Messages, or Notes.
  • Type two spaces in the text field.
  • Tap and hold, and copy the spaces.

This way, anything copied previously will disappear and will be replaced by the spaces. You can make sure by pasting the clipboard on another text field.

  1. Clear Clipboard History Using Shortcuts – 
  • Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad.
  • Tap on the + icon.
    Tap on + icon
  • Tap on Add Action.
    Tap on Add Action
  • On the search panel, type ‘Nothing’.
    Type Nothing
  • Tap on Nothing.
    Tap on Nothing
  • Now, tap on the + icon. 
    Tap on + icon
  • Again on the search panel, type Clipboard
    Type Clipboard
  • Select Copy to Clipboard.
    Select Copy to Clipboard
  • Now, go to the three-dot icon
    Select three-dot icon
  • Tap on the Shortcut sign.
    Select Shortcut sign
  • Choose any color and glyph.
    Select any Color and Gylph
  • Click on Done.
    Tap on Done
  • Now, give any name to the shortcut.
    Type Clear Clipboard
  • Tap on Done.
    Tap on Done
  • Now, on the Clear Clipboard page, tap on Done.
    Tap on Done
  • The shortcut is ready. 
    New shortcut

This way you can clear your copy history iPhone/iPad whenever you want in just a few taps. You can always make changes to your shortcuts and delete them if not needed. 

Troubleshooting Tips on iPhone/iPad Clipboard History Problems

In any case, if you are not able to check your iPad/iPhone clipboard history, we have some troubleshooting tips for you to try and see if they work. 

  1. Update the iOS – Make sure that your iPhone/iPad is updated to the latest version, if you haven’t checked for any updates yet, go to Settings > General > Software Update. And if there is any update required download and install it.
  1. Restart your iOS – Try giving your iPhone or iPad a restart/reboot. This will clear the junk and close all the applications running in the background. 

If these tips couldn’t help resolve your clipboard history issues, there may be a hardware issue in your iOS device. In this case, you can contact the Apple store

How to See Clipboard History on Android Phones?

Just like an iPhone, there is an easy way to see your clipboard history on an Android phone as well. Read along and learn how to. 

Use Notes App – The easiest way to find out what you last copied on your Android phone is by using the Notes app.

  • Launch the Notes app on your phone.
    Tap on the notes app
  • Tap on the + icon to create a new note.
    Tap on the + icon
  • On the text field, press and hold, then tap on the Paste option.
    Tap on the Paste option
  • This will paste the content you copied last.
    Text Field notes page

You can also go for a third-party application available in the play store to keep the entire clipboard history saved with additional features as well. 

Final Thoughts

Lastly, we would always suggest you keep your iPhone’s clipboard history saved in the Notes app as third-party applications are not always reliable and come with security and other related risks. You can also try using a universal clipboard designed for iOS devices to copy-paste any item effortlessly. 

Also Read:- 16 Best Snipping Tools for Mac in 2023!

FAQs

Ans: A universal clipboard is used to copy any content from one iOS device and paste it to another iOS device.

Ans: To see your last clipboard item, go to any text field, long press on the text field, and tap on paste. If you wish to see the full history of your clipboard you’ll need to install a third-party application.

Ans: The last item you copied on your phone goes to the phone’s virtual memory and it automatically erases the previous item from the clipboard. Only one item at one time can be saved in a clipboard.

Sources:-

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