You may understand how the Windows system clipboard works at a high level, but you might not know how to maximize its efficiency. Unlike a file that exists in a location you can view, the Windows clipboard works silently in the background, watching you copy and paste information from one location to another. You can't simply open File Explorer and look at your clipboard entries. While the system clipboard gets the job done and always works, other tools exist that can help it work better.
- Behind the Cut and Paste Magic : The Windows clipboard is an advanced piece of software capable of manipulating multiple types of clipboard formats. In addition to handling regular text, the clipboard also lets you copy and paste images, files and other types of data. One day you may interact with the clipboard by copying images from a Web page into WordPad. Another day, you might drag a file from File Manager into an application you're using. Software developers who understand how to manipulate clipboard formats create applications that enhance the clipboard's capabilities.
- Your Clipboard Isn’t Perfect : The Windows clipboard hasn’t changed much since the early days of computing, One of the clipboard’s biggest disadvantages is its inability to hold more than one item at a time. If you copy something important, you’d better paste it somewhere before you copy something else. Otherwise, your second copy operation overwrites the first one and you lose the first clip you copied. The system clipboard also loses information whenever you shut off your computer or restart Windows. That’s why it’s wise to paste important information that you’ve copy into a document if you think your computer might crash unexpectedly.
- Third-Party Clipboard Magic : If you do a lot of copying and pasting, you can work more productively by installing a third-party clipboard manager. ClipboardFusion, for instance, is a full-featured application that remembers multiple pieces of information that you copy. It also has the ability to replace text that you copy with alternate text. You might find this feature useful when you'd like to strip away extra formatting from text that you copy. Clipboard Manager can also save multiple items to the clipboard and retrieve them later as you need them. Many other clipboard managers exist that provide similar features that help you work more productively. Most of them also give you the ability to retrieve information that you’ve copied after you restart your computer.
- Microsoft Office Remembers Your Clips : Microsoft Office applications have the ability to save multiple bits of information that you copy and paste them into other office applications later. If you've never seen this clipboard, click the "Home" tab on an Office apps ribbon and then click the small icon in the Clipboard section’s lower right corner. Whenever you copy something while working, the information goes into the clipboard and remains there as long as you have one Office application running. If you open another office application, you can open its clipboard and click an item to paste it into a document. This clipboard can hold up to 24 items.