Windows stores the last copied or cut item in a temporary storage area called the Clipboard memory, till you restart or log off the computer. If you copy or cut something else, the earlier item gets replaced with the new one. For privacy or security purposes, you may at times, feel the need to clear the clipboard memory.
Should you wish and feel the need to clear your clipboard frequently, you can create a desktop shortcut to clear clipboard or you could add an item to your desktop right-click context menu.
Clear Clipboard using Shortcut
Right-clickon the
desktop, select
New >
Shortcut. In the Location box, type the following:
%windir%\System32\cmd /c “echo off | clip”Click
Next and name the shortcut as
Clear Clipboard. Click
Finish.
Additionally, you may right-click on this new shortcut and select
Properties. Here you could do the following 3 things, if you wish:
1. Give it a suitable new icon using the Change icon button
2. Make the windows Run Minimized
3. Give it a keyboard shortcut key.
Add Clear Clipboard to Context Menu
Open the
Registry Editorand navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\
In the left pane, right-click on Shell and select
New >
Key, and name it
Clear Clipboard.
Next right-click on this newly created Clear Clipboard key, select
New >
Key and name it
Command.
Now in the right pane, double-click on Default, select Modify, and in the Value Data box, give it the following Value Data:
cmd.exe /c echo off | clip
Click
OK. Press
F5 to refresh the registry and exit it.
You will now see the
Clear Clipboard entry in the desktop context menu. You can use it to clear the Clipboard memory.
The Windows Clipboard is very basic in nature and does not offer many features. As a result, many free Clipboard alternatives like ArchiveClipboard, Enhanced Clipboard Manager, CopyCat, Clipboardic, Orange Note, Ditto, Clipboard Magic, etc, are available on the internet.
