How To Save And Access Your Clipboard On iPhone

When you copy something on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, it is saved to the clipboard and is ready to be pasted wherever you want. If you copy something else, your previous clipboard is overwritten and lost forever!

On my Mac, I use a program called CopyClip, which keeps track of my 25 most recent clipboards. I can copy any of my previous clipboards directly from the menu bar. On the iPhone, I wanted to achieve the same goal of saving and accessing my recent clipboards whenever I wanted.

Because of iOS limitations, the process isn’t as simple as on a Mac, but it is still possible. This tutorial will show you how to save multiple clipboards on your iPhone and access them as needed.

1. Use any notes app to access the clipboard on your iPhone

You can paste your current clipboard into any notes app on your iPhone, such as Apple Notes, Simplenote, Evernote, Google Keep, and so on. Then, when you copy something else, you can open the same note and paste it there to keep your previous and current clipboards separate.

It is not an easy approach, but it is something you should be aware of (or, most likely, already knew). You can use this if you don’t want to download any new apps for privacy reasons, a lack of space on your iPhone, or any other reason.

2. Make use of clipboard shortcuts

Tap Gallery in the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad. If you search for clipboard, you will get several results. Read their descriptions to find something that will meet your requirements.

3. Access and save previous clipboards with SwiftKey.

SwiftKey by Microsoft is one of the most popular third-party keyboards for the iPhone and iPad. I’ve been using it for years because of the excellent suggestions, optional number row, themes, and integrated clipboard manager.

Here’s how to use SwiftKey on your iPhone or iPad to save, access, and manage current or previous clipboards:

1. Download SwiftKey, open it, and follow the setup instructions. Go to iPhone Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard and select SwiftKey. Then, tap SwiftKey and select Allow Full Access.
2. Once everything is in place, open notes or another app that has a keyboard. Now, tap the globe or emoji icon to switch your iPhone’s keyboard to SwiftKey rather than the built-in Apple keyboard.
3. On your iPhone, copy text or a link, which is saved to the iOS clipboard.
4. Open any app or screen where the SwiftKey keyboard appears, and then tap the tiny plus (+) icon. If the Apple keyboard appears, repeat step 2 or set SwiftKey as your default keyboard.
5. Select the clipboard icon.
6. Select Save. This clipboard is now permanently saved in your SwiftKey keyboard.
7. To access your saved clipboards, repeat steps 4 and 5. Simply tap the clipboard icon to paste or insert it from there. Swipe left and tap Delete to remove the clipboard. Finally, select Edit to rearrange the order of your saved clipboards. You can also view and manage all of your clipboards within the SwiftKey app by going to Settings > Clipboard.

What is the purpose of this?

• People who are comfortable changing their typing habits and using a different keyboard.
• People who have a set of sentences or lines that they must use regularly. Assume you’re a seller and you want to send a predefined response to every email you receive. You can copy that entire response to your SwiftKey clipboard and paste it into the email with just a few taps!

4. Save and access multiple clipboard entries with iPhone clipboard manager apps

On my iPhone, I tried out 14 clipboard manager apps.

Some of them requested that I change my keyboard and use theirs instead. Switching to a different keyboard than SwiftKey is out of the question for me. You, too, may be hesitant to abandon the familiar iOS keyboard (or one of your favorite third-party keyboards) in favor of a relatively unknown app for all of your typing needs. As a result, I ignored these apps. And SwiftKey is already doing what they are doing (mentioned above).

Some apps required me to tap a few buttons within the app to save my clipboard. So, copy something to the clipboard > open that clipboard app > tap a plus icon > paste the clipboard contents > Save. As you can see, there are quite a few steps. As a result, I ignored these apps as well.

Finally, I discovered some apps that eliminated all the unnecessary steps. Simply opening the app saves your current clipboard contents. You are not required to do anything else. Furthermore, you must open the app due to iOS privacy restrictions that allow an app to read and use your clipboard only when you open it. Furthermore, even in the free version, these apps have almost no or very few advertisements.

Here’s how to use an iPhone clipboard app to save and access multiple past clipboards:

1. Get Oneboard for free.
2. Copying any text will save it to your iOS clipboard.
3. Launch Oneboard and select Clipboard. The contents of your text clipboard are automatically saved by the app.
4. Use your iPhone and copy any useful text you come across to the clipboard.
5. Reopen Oneboard, and the app will save the clipboard contents automatically. You will notice that your previous clipboard is also present. Repeat the preceding steps to save multiple old clipboards.
6. Open Oneboard and tap one of the entries to access these clipboards. It is immediately copied to your clipboard, where you can paste it wherever you want. To delete or share a saved clipboard, press it within Oneboard and select the appropriate option.

Note: If the app does not immediately display the clipboard you just saved, tap List and then Tap Clipboard again.

Other iPhone clipboard applications

Here are three more iOS clipboard manager apps that allow you to save your current clipboard, keep a clipboard history, and access past clipboards:

1. Clipboard Grabber: Simply opening the app saves your clipboard. To copy a saved clipboard, however, tap the clipboard and then select Copy. Simply tap the clipboard in Oneboard to copy it.
2. Clips Board: To save your current clipboard, open the app and tap Save. You can, however, copy a saved clipboard with a single tap. This app is also notable for its widget support for Today View. As a result, you can access your saved clipboards and copy them without having to open the app.
3. Clipboarder: When you open the app, it saves your clipboard. However, there are several steps involved in replicating it. It’s useful if you want to quickly save your clipboards and then edit them.

Summary

You can save multiple clipboards with third-party clipboard manager apps by simply opening the app. You can access these saved clipboards from the app and use them in the future. This way, when you copy something else, you don’t lose your important clipboards.

Caution: I do not recommend storing your credit card information or other sensitive information in any third-party apps that you do not trust. Instead, go to iPhone Settings > Safari > AutoFill > Saved Credit Cards > Add Credit Card to save your card information. When you use this card on a website in Safari, the details will autofill.