Clipboards give you quick access to items you’ve copied and pasted into your texts, notes, and emails. While some Android phones let you access the clipboard history, others only show the last copied item.

Luckily, there are several ways to view clipboard history, even on Android phones that don’t have this feature built-in.

How to View Clipboard History on Android Phone

Viewing clipboard history depends on the Android phone you are using. Although they share the same operating system or similar operating systems, Android phones differ in many features including the keyboard.

Most Android phones have built-in clipboards. However, only some allow you to view its history.

Here’s how you can view clipboard history on these devices:

  1. Go to Messages, Notes, Email or wherever you want to paste a message from the clipboard.
  2. Long press the screen to access several options.
  3. Select “Clipboard”.
  4. Scroll down to view the entire history.

Unfortunately, the majority of Android phones do not have this feature. Instead, they only allow you to paste the most recent item you copied. Still, there are ways to view and manage clipboard history, but this requires installing third-party apps.

Keyboard apps

Although all Android phones come with built-in keyboards, many users opt for installing a third-party keyboard app. Indeed, keyboard apps often offer more interesting features, including clipboard managers.

gboard

One of the most popular keyboard apps is Gboard. This is the official Google keyboard, it is reliable and easy to use. Its popularity is proven by more than a billion downloads on the Play Store. Many recent Android phones come with Gboard pre-installed.

Here’s how to use Gboard to set up and view clipboard history on your Android phone:

  1. Make sure Gboard is installed and set as the default keyboard. If you don’t have it installed, download it from the Play Store.
  2. When typing in Gboard, tap the clipboard icon above the letters.
  3. Tap “Enable clipboard”.
  4. Copy the items you want to save to the clipboard.
  5. Tap the clipboard icon again and you will see the copied items under “Recent”.

Gboard lets you permanently save all copied items by pinning them. Tap and hold the clip, and it will be saved as “Pinned”.

Keep in mind that this feature will not work if you have disabled the clipboard manager. If disabled, Gboard will not save any of the items you copied and there will be no way to recover them.

SwiftKey

SwiftKey is another great keyboard app that comes with clipboard options. Here’s how to access the clipboard and view history:

  1. Start by using the app. If you don’t have it installed, download it from the Play Store.
  2. Copy the items you want to save to your clipboard.
  3. Tap the clipboard icon (the third icon from the left).
  4. The copied items will appear, with the most recent on top.

This app also lets you pin certain items and prevent them from expiring. Just tap the pin to the right of the items you want to save.

Other Apps

Many other keyboard apps offer clipboard managers. Although they differ in functionality, most of them have good clipboard options that will give you more control over what you have copied.

We recommend Chrooma and Ai.type, but there are plenty of others that offer great functionality.

Clipboard apps

Standalone clipboard apps are another great way to view your clipboard history. If you often copy and paste different content and are looking for a solution to organize it, clipboard apps are a great option.

Some clipboard apps offer more features than popular keyboard apps like Gboard. They allow you to organize the copied items into categories, turn them into QR codes, translate them into different languages, and more.

Mower

Clipper Clipboard Manager is one of the most popular clipboard apps on play store. It offers many useful features that make it much easier to control clipboard management.

Here’s how to view clipboard history in Clipper:

  1. Make sure Clipper Clipboard Manager is installed on your phone. If you don’t, download it from the Play Store.
  2. Tap “Clipboard”.
  3. You will see the items copied and when you copied them. The most recent item will be at the top of the list.

Clipper is great because it not only automatically saves everything you copy, but also lets you add your clippings manually. You can do this by tapping the plus sign in the bottom right and typing the snippet.

Plus, you can quickly access Clipper through your status bar and save time if you need to view your clipboard history. Clipper also lets you pin items you use often and sort them into different categories.

clipboard manager

Clipboard Manager is another useful app that could make clipboard management easier. It has over 1 million downloads on play store which proves its popularity.

Here’s how to view clipboard history using the clipboard manager:

  1. Make sure the app is installed on your Android phone. If you don’t have it, download it from the Play Store.
  2. Open the app.
  3. You’ll find the copied items in the “Clipboard” section, with the most recent ones at the top.

Clipboard Manager syncs with your Android phone as soon as you install it. Whenever you copy a text to your phone, it will automatically be displayed in the app. The app also allows you to manually manage the clipboard i.e. add text in the app.

Moreover, you can add favorite clipboards, create countless clipboard categories, use search option for easier navigation, merge notes, etc.

You can easily access Clipboard Manager directly from your status bar. From there, you can use the “Smart Actions” feature that sets this app apart from others. This option allows you to add new notes, run a Google or Wikipedia search, or translate different clipboard content.

Other Apps

Other apps like Clip Stack and Clipboard Actions & Notes also offer awesome features for clipboard management. Both are free and have no ads.

Standalone clipboard apps are great if you use copy-and-paste features often but don’t want to change your default keyboard.

Clipboard Tips

Although clipboards make it easy to copy and paste, many people tend to make mistakes that can compromise their privacy. Here are some tips to help you use the clipboard functions safely:

  • Do not keep sensitive information on clipboards. Passwords, SSNs, PINs or credit card details should not be on your clipboard or they could end up in the wrong hands. This especially goes for third-party apps.
  • Read reviews before downloading any third-party app. Use only reputable apps with positive reviews from past and current users.
  • Be careful when granting app permissions. Some apps can access your clipboards without you knowing.
  • If you’re using an app that you can access directly from the status bar, pay attention to what information it displays.

Retrieve history with clipboards

Clipboards are simple and useful tools that help you copy and paste things without having to type them repeatedly. Once you get used to it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t install one sooner.

We hope this article helped you learn how to view clipboard history on Android phones. Also, we hope that our recommendations for keyboard and clipboard apps were useful to you and that you found the one that suits your needs.