How to see clipboard history on an iPad

Does iPadOS have clipboard history?

No. Apple added clipboard history to Spotlight on the Mac in macOS Tahoe, where Command-Space and then Command-4 lists recent copies. iPadOS did not get it. Spotlight on iPad searches apps, contacts, content inside apps such as Mail and Messages, and text in your photos, but not past copies, and Apple's list of what is new in iPadOS 27 has no clipboard feature. The iPad clipboard works the way it always has: it holds whatever you copied last, and copying something else replaces it. That is true on every iPad, including iPad Pro, iPad Air and iPad mini.

Where the clipboard is on an iPad, and how to see what is on it

There is no clipboard app or screen in iPadOS. The clipboard is there in the background, and the only way to look at what it holds is to paste it somewhere.

1. 1Open Notes and start a new note. Any text field works, such as the Safari address bar.
2. 2Tap where you want the text to go, then tap Paste.
3. 3With a keyboard attached, press Command-V instead. With your fingers, pinch open with three fingers.

This shows the current item only. iPadOS does not keep the item you copied before it, so if you need an earlier copy and did not save it anywhere, it is gone.

Copy and paste with three-finger gestures

Apple's iPad gestures do the same job as the menu that appears when you tap a selection. Select the text first: double-tap a word, triple-tap a paragraph, or double-tap and hold the first word of a block and drag the grab points.

1. 1Copy: pinch closed with three fingers.
2. 2Cut: pinch closed with three fingers two times.
3. 3Paste: tap where the text should go, then pinch open with three fingers.
4. 4Undo: swipe left with three fingers. Redo: swipe right with three fingers.

If the gestures feel fiddly, tap the selected text instead and choose Copy, Cut or Paste from the menu.

Copy and paste with a hardware keyboard

With an external keyboard such as a Magic Keyboard, iPad uses the same shortcuts as a Mac: Command-C copies, Command-X cuts, Command-V pastes, Command-A selects all, Command-Z undoes and Shift-Command-Z redoes. Apple notes that Command does what Control does on a PC. To see every shortcut an app supports in iPadOS 27, turn on Windowed Apps or Stage Manager, tap or click the app's name next to the date in the top left corner to show the menu bar, and choose a menu. In iPadOS 26 you swipe down from the middle of the top edge instead, and in iPadOS 18 or earlier you hold the Command key to see the list. Globe-M also shows the menu bar.

Move several things at once with drag and drop

Because the clipboard holds one item, drag and drop is the iPad's built-in way to move several things between apps. Open the two apps side by side, touch and hold an item until it lifts up (select text first), then drag it into the other app. To carry more than one, touch and hold the first item, drag it slightly and keep holding, then tap other items with another finger; a badge shows how many you are carrying. If the other app is not open, keep holding the item, swipe up from the bottom edge with another finger to show the Dock, and drag over the app's icon to open it. Apple describes dragging text as a way to move it without cutting or copying, so it leaves your clipboard alone.

Not every third-party app accepts dropped items. If an app does not, fall back to copy and paste one item at a time.

Universal Clipboard between iPad, iPhone and Mac

Universal Clipboard lets you copy on your iPad and paste on your iPhone or Mac, or the other way around, with nothing to install. Both devices need the same Apple Account with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Handoff turned on, and they must be within about 30 feet (10 meters) of each other. It carries text, images, photos and videos. The copied item stays on the other device only briefly, or until you copy something else, and it does not add to any history on the iPad. If it stops working, the fixes are the same as on iPhone: check the Apple Account, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff on both devices, then restart them.

What a clipboard app can and cannot do on iPad

iPadOS follows the same rules as iOS. Apps cannot watch the clipboard in the background, and the system notifies you when an app reads something copied in another app without you asking it to paste. So a clipboard app on iPad cannot quietly build a complete history of everything you copy. What it can do, depending on the app, is save what you hand it: the current clipboard when you open the app, anything you send it from the share sheet, and copies made while its own keyboard is on screen. It can then keep those items, let you search them and paste them back. The iPhone clipboard guide explains the privacy rules in more detail, and they are the same on iPad.

Clypy on iPad

Clypy's App Store app runs on iPad as well as iPhone and needs iPadOS 16.4 or later. It works within the rules above: it saves what is on the clipboard when you open it, anything you send it from the share sheet, and each new copy made while the Clypy keyboard is on screen. It cannot record every copy made elsewhere on the iPad automatically. The history is unlimited and free, with no account. Clypy Pro, a one-time $29.99 for unlimited devices, adds the keyboard, Shortcuts, and end-to-end encrypted sync with a Mac, Windows PC, Linux computer, iPhone or Android phone.

1. 1Install Clypy from the App Store and open it once.
2. 2Go to Settings, General, Keyboard, Keyboards, then tap Add New Keyboard and choose Clypy.
3. 3Tap Clypy in that list and turn on Allow Full Access, which the keyboard needs.
4. 4In any app, touch and hold the globe key and switch to the Clypy keyboard, then tap a clip to paste it.

The Clypy keyboard and Shortcuts are part of Clypy Pro. Without them, Clypy still saves what is on the clipboard when you open it, and anything you share to it.