Microsoft has finally delivered one of the single-most requested crossover productivity features between Windows and Android: a cloud clipboard.
No longer will you have to copy and paste text between your favorite messaging app and your work documents. Instead, the cloud clipboard will record your Android inputs and allow you to copy them to your Windows machine—a massive timesaver, no doubt about it.
Latest SwiftKey Beta Enables Cloud Clipboard—At Last
Windows 10 has long had a cloud clipboard option. Once enabled, you can share your Windows 10 clipboard across your connected Windows 10 devices, sharing your copied snippets and files between machines fairly seamlessly.
However, one long-time gripe is that you couldn't share your clipboard content between your Android devices and Windows 10. At least, not easily.
But now, the latest Microsoft SwiftKey Beta update has delivered the feature many users have been waiting for after months of speculation: cloud clipboard sharing between Windows and Android devices.
The days of emailing yourself website links, phone numbers and addresses are a thing of the past. You can now use Microsoft SwiftKey's Cloud Clipboard feature to sync your copied text across all your devices.
Sure, sharing copied content between your devices isn't that difficult, especially with the myriad chat apps and cloud storage tools most people use daily. But anything that makes the process easier and, importantly, faster, is a welcome addition.
One important thing to note is that the cloud clipboard feature doesn't save an awful lot of information. According to the SwiftKey update page, "Your Cloud Clipboard will only ever retain your last copied clip. Your clip will be available for an hour."
If you're working between machines simultaneously, that isn't an issue. But if you were planning to cloud clip something for use later, you should consider an alternative sharing option.
How to Use Cloud Clipboard With the SwiftKey Beta and Windows 10
As you might expect, accessing the cloud clipboard between Android and Windows 10 is a two-part process.
First up, on your Android device:
- You need a copy of SwiftKey for Android
- Once installed, head to Rich input > Clipboard
- Tap the Sync clipboard history to the cloud button
- Sign into your Microsoft Account
Next, on your Windows 10 machine:
- Head to Settings > System > Clipboard
- Select Clipboard history to switch it on
- Select Sync across devices to enable cloud clipboard sharing
- Sign into your Microsoft Account if requested
Cloud clipboard is a welcome addition to the operating system (both Android and Windows 10), but if you're sharing a great deal of information frequently, other cloud data sharing options may better suit your requirements.