How to Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Windows 10


Copy paste – it’s something we all do, probably multiple times a day. But what do you do if you need to copy the same few things again and again? How do you copy content across your devices? Starting with Windows 10 build 17666, Microsoft is addressing that and taking the clipboard to the next level – simply press Win+V and you’ll be presented with a brand-new clipboard experience.

Not only can you can paste from the clipboard history, but you can also pin the items you find yourself using all the time. This history is roamed using the same technology which powers Timeline and Sets, which means you can access your clipboard across any PC with this build of Windows or higher.

If you turn on sync across devices for your clipboard, Microsoft receives your clipboard data to sync across your devices that you are signed in to with the same Microsoft account. You can select to automatically sync text that I copy, or to never automatically sync text that I copy to be able to manually choose text from clipboard history (Win+V) to sync.

Roamed text on the clipboard is only supported for clipboard content less than 100 kb. Currently, the clipboard history supports plain text, HTML and image less than 1 MB.

Starting with Windows 10 build 18234, the image size limit has been increased from 1MB to 4MB to accommodate the potential size of full screen screenshots taken on a high-DPI devices.

If needed, you can set a group policy in Windows 10 to allow (enable) or prevent (disable) users from being able to turn on Clipboard sync across devices for their accounts on the PC. This policy setting determines whether Clipboard contents can be synchronized across devices logged in under the same Microsoft account or Azure AD account.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the Clipboard sync across devices feature for all users in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable Clipboard sync across devices.



Contents

  • Option One: Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Local Group Policy Editor
  • Option Two: Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices using a REG file



EXAMPLE: Clipboard Sync Across Devices enabled and disabled in Settings
Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Windows 10-clipboard_sync_across_devices-enabled.jpg Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Windows 10-clipboard_sync_across_devices-disabled.jpg






OPTION ONE

Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Local Group Policy Editor


The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Two below.


1 Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2 In the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor, click/tap on to expand Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, and OS Policies. (see screenshot below)

Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Windows 10-clipboard_sync_across_devices_gpedit-1.png

3 In the right pane of OS Policies, double click/tap on the Allow Clipboard synchronization across devices policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4 Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


5 To Enable Clipboard Sync Across Devices for All Users

A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

Not Configured is the default setting.



6 To Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices for All Users

A) Select (dot) Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices in Windows 10-clipboard_sync_across_devices_gpedit-2.png


7 When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.






OPTION TWO

Enable or Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices using a REG file


The downloadable .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry keys below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

AllowCrossDeviceClipboard DWORD

(delete) = Enable
0 = Disable


1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2 To Enable Clipboard Sync Across Devices for All Users

This is the default setting.

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_Clipboard_sync_across_devices_for_all_users.reg

Download


3 To Disable Clipboard Sync Across Devices for All Users

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_Clipboard_sync_across_devices_for_all_users.reg

Download


4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


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