We all know how the Apple ecosystem is tightly integrated to provide users a seamless experience across their phones and PCs. In fact, part of the reason Apple users tend to stick to the ecosystem is due to the useful cross-platform features. One such feature is Universal Clipboard, which lets users easily copy text, images, photos, and videos from one Apple device and paste it on the other. Well, Microsoft has been working to deliver the same seamless experience with Android phones. The Your Phone app already offers you a ton of functionality, but Microsoft has now added a thoughtful new feature that lets you sync your clipboard across Android and Windows PC. We will teach you how to set up and use the ‘sync across other devices’ clipboard feature across your Android phone and Windows PC.
Unlike Apple’s Universal Clipboard feature, you can’t sync images and videos across your Android and Windows devices in Microsoft’s implementation, at least not yet. With that out of the way, here’s all you need to know to sync your clipboard across your Android phone and Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC.
- Requirements To Sync Clipboard Across Android and Windows
- Step 1: Download SwiftKey Beta on Your Android Phone
- Step 2: Enable Cloud Clipboard on SwiftKey for Android
- Step 3: Enable Cloud Clipboard on Windows 10/ Windows 11 PC
- Step 4: Using Cloud Clipboard to Sync Copied Text Across Android and Windows
- Manage Cloud Clipboard Settings for Privacy
- Microsoft SwiftKey Cloud Clipboard: Is it Safe to Use?
- Microsoft SwiftKey Cloud Clipboard Alternative: Clipt
Requirements To Sync Clipboard Across Android and Windows
You can copy and paste text seamlessly across your devices if you meet the following three requirements:
- Need to sign in with Microsoft account on your Windows PC and SwiftKey app.
Step 2: Enable Cloud Clipboard on SwiftKey for Android
- After installing SwiftKey beta, you should ‘Sign in with Microsoft‘. Once that’s done, you are all set to enable SwiftKey’s cloud clipboard.
Note: I have demonstrated this using a Windows 11 PC, but it works on Windows 10 October 2018 update and newer. While the UI of the Settings app is slightly different, the steps to enable cloud clipboard on Windows 10 are the same. You can simply follow the instructions below to enable the feature on your Windows PC.
Once you have set up your Windows PC and Android phone to sync clipboard history, using it is fairly straightforward. You can copy any text from your PC, and it will show up on your phone under SwiftKey’s clipboard feature. The vice-versa holds true as well. You will see a ‘Copied from another device’ label on SwiftKey’s clipboard to identify the text you copied on Windows. Your synced texts will stay for an hour.
In my testing, the clipboard sync was almost instant, and I was able to seamlessly copy and paste across a laptop with Windows 11 and a Pixel 3 XL running Android 12 beta. As long as your internet connection is reliable, you are likely to have a pleasant experience with Microsoft’s cloud clipboard.
Manage Cloud Clipboard Settings for Privacy
If the idea of syncing everything you copied on your PC to your phone scares you, you also have the option to sync your clipboard manually. Follow the steps below to enable this nifty feature on both your Windows PC and Android device:
- On the SwiftKey app, you have the option to turn off sync from the clipboard history panel. This could be useful in instances where you are typing sensitive details such as passwords (if you are still not using a password manager).
If you value your privacy, you must be wondering if this feature is actually safe to use. Well, Microsoft says so. According to the company, your clipboard data is encrypted and is not associated with your Microsoft account. The company also promises that SwiftKey does not process or store your data. It’s also worth mentioning that your synced clip will be available for an hour and will disappear after that.
If you are interested, you can grab the app and extension from the links below and check out our coverage of Clipt app for more information.
