Universal Clipboard for Windows and Android: what to use on each pair of devices

Why Universal Clipboard only works between Apple devices

Universal Clipboard is one of Apple's Continuity features. Apple's requirements are a Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple Vision Pro near the other device, each signed in with the same Apple Account and with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff turned on. Every device on that list is Apple's, so a Windows PC, an Android phone or a Linux machine can never take part. iCloud for Windows does not change this: it brings iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, Calendars and Contacts, Passwords and Bookmarks to a PC, and nothing that touches the clipboard. What exists instead was built by Microsoft, Samsung and the KDE project, each for its own devices, which is why the answer depends on which two devices you have.

If Universal Clipboard has stopped working between two Apple devices, that is a separate problem with its own fixes, covered in our Universal Clipboard troubleshooting guide.

Two Windows PCs: Clipboard history across your devices

Windows syncs the clipboard between PCs on its own. On each PC, open Settings, System, Clipboard, turn on Clipboard history, then turn on Clipboard history across your devices, signed in with the same Microsoft account or work account. With Automatically sync text that I copy selected, text you copy on one PC shows up under Windows key + V on the other. It syncs copied text, and it reaches only Windows PCs, plus your last copied text on an Android phone through Microsoft SwiftKey. If both PCs sit on one desk, a software KVM that shares one keyboard and mouse carries the clipboard as well.

Android and Windows: Phone Link, or SwiftKey on any phone

Phone Link's cross-device copy and paste works most like Universal Clipboard: copy text or a picture on the phone and paste it on the PC, or the other way round. Microsoft supports it on Surface Duo, Samsung Galaxy phones running One UI 2.1 or later, and selected HONOR, OPPO (including the OnePlus and Realme series), ASUS, vivo and Xiaomi models. Pixel phones are not on the list. You turn it on in Phone Link under Settings, Features, Cross-device copy and paste. On any Android phone, Microsoft SwiftKey can sync with Windows clipboard history instead, through a personal Microsoft account, but it holds only your last copied text, for one hour. Our Android and Windows guide has the steps for both.

Phone Link resizes images over 1 MB, each copy replaces the clipboard on both devices, and unless you allow mobile data it only works while both are on Wi-Fi. Neither option keeps a history, and neither does Universal Clipboard.

Two Android devices: Samsung Galaxy only

Samsung builds clipboard sharing into its Galaxy phones and tablets. Both devices need One UI 3.1 or later, the same Samsung account, the same Wi-Fi network and Bluetooth turned on. Turn on Continue apps on other devices in Settings, Connected devices on each one, and text you copy on one can be pasted on the other; Samsung says pictures work too. It covers Galaxy devices only, so pairing a Galaxy with a Pixel or another brand needs an app on both.

iPhone or iPad and Windows: nothing built in

Phone Link connects an iPhone to Windows for calls, messages, notifications and contacts, but Microsoft lists cross-device copy and paste only for Android phones, and says Phone Link is not compatible with iPad at all. SwiftKey's cloud clipboard does not help either: Microsoft says clips cannot be synced to iOS. The free option is KDE Connect, which has an app for iPhone and iPad and one for Windows. KDE describes its iOS clipboard support as limited: you tap a button in the app to push the iPhone's clipboard text to the PC. For both directions, and for pictures, you need a clipboard app on both devices, as our iPhone and Windows guide explains.

A Mac with an Android phone or a Windows PC

Nothing built in connects a Mac to an Android phone or a Windows PC. Microsoft says SwiftKey's clipboard sync does not support Mac, and Phone Link is not available for macOS. For Android and a Mac, KDE Connect is the free route: it shares clipboard text, not images, and has a stable release for Apple silicon Macs and untested nightly builds for Intel. For a Mac and a PC on one desk, Deskflow, a free, open-source software KVM for Windows, macOS and Linux, lets one keyboard and mouse drive both and carries the clipboard along. Our Android and Mac, and Mac and Windows guides walk through each.

Linux and Android: KDE Connect or GSConnect

Linux desktops do not share a clipboard with a phone on their own, so the usual tool is KDE Connect, which is packaged for all major distributions and works on any desktop environment. On GNOME, GSConnect is an extension that implements KDE Connect, so the phone uses the same KDE Connect app; it cannot run alongside the KDE Connect desktop app. Both share clipboard text in both directions, not images. Since Android 10, only the keyboard in use or the app on screen can read the clipboard, so to send a copy from the phone you tap Send clipboard in KDE Connect's notification, or use its Quick Settings tile on Android 14 and later.

Clypy: one clipboard across every pair, with a history

If your devices span several of these pairs, say an Android phone, a Windows PC at work and a Mac at home, each pair needs a different tool. Clypy is one app for macOS, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android, and it is the closest thing to Universal Clipboard across different operating systems, with one difference: it keeps a history. On each computer it saves every copy automatically, with unlimited local history that is free and needs no account. (On Linux that holds on Xorg and GNOME's Wayland session; on other Wayland desktops it depends on the compositor.) With Clypy Pro, paired devices sync text, links and images, encrypted on the device that copied them, directly over Wi-Fi when they share a network and through a relay that cannot read them when they do not. You pair by scanning a code, which exchanges the encryption keys.

Phones are where it falls short of Universal Clipboard. Android and iOS stop apps reading the clipboard in the background, so on Android, Clypy saves every copy only while the Clypy keyboard is the selected keyboard, and otherwise when you open it or share to it. On an iPhone or iPad it saves what is on the clipboard when you open it, what you share to it, and copies made while its keyboard is on screen. Sync and the phone keyboards are part of Pro, a one-time $29.99 for unlimited devices, and sync does not carry the contents of copied files.