How to Access Clipboard on Android

This practical guide walks through how to access clipboard on Android, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

Access and manage Clipboard on Android

Like many other factors on Android, the Clipboard feature will work a little differently depending on the look of your device and the Android version you're using. For example, Samsung and LG smartphones have their own built-in Clipboard. While other devices can only access the Clipboard through the keyboard app.

This guide will focus on using Android clipboard with keyboard application. This method will work on any Android device.

First you will need a keyboard application with clipboard feature. Two popular options are Google Gboard and Microsoft's SwiftKey. The Clipboards in these two applications work very similarly.

Once you've installed and set up your keyboard, you can try to access the Clipboard. First, try copying a piece of text or a link. Clipboard does not support images.

Next, go to the app where you want to paste the data you copied and tap the text field on that app to display the keyboard. Find the Clipboard icon in the top toolbar, as shown below.

This will open the clipboard and you'll see recently copied items at the top of the list. Just tap on any option in the clipboard to paste it into the text field of the application.

Android doesn't permanently store items that you've copied to the Clipboard. After a while, the oldest items in the clipboard are deleted. Both Gboard and SwiftKey let you 'pin' important items in the Clipboard to prevent them from being deleted after an hour. This can be done by pressing and holding an item and selecting the "Pin" option.

If you find yourself constantly having to do copy and paste on Android, then the clipboard is an invaluable tool. You can copy multiple things at once and then paste them independently without having to work back and forth.