Copy-pasting text on your PC is really handy, but did you know that it’s possible to copy-paste content between your Windows PC and an Android phone?
Copying and pasting text and images is one of the most convenient ways to transfer data between software. In Windows, you can copy items to the clipboard for pasting elsewhere.
These days, you can paste copied items into Android apps as well as desktop software thanks to the Cloud Clipboard feature in Windows and SwiftKey. This is how you can copy and paste items between a Windows 11/10 PC and an Android mobile device.
Cloud Clipboard is a syncing feature available in Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11. That feature enables users to sync Windows clipboard content so they can share (paste) it with other devices. Note that the feature is restricted to sharing copied text snippets only. To copy and paste between your PC and mobile device, you’ll first need to enable Cloud Clipboard in Windows 11/10 as follows.
When you’ve enabled Cloud Clipboard in Windows, you’ll need to do the same on your Android mobile device. To do so, add the Microsoft SwiftKey Android app to your phone or tablet. SwiftKey is a touch keyboard app that includes a Cloud Clipboard feature, which isn’t enabled by default.
Here is how you can add SwiftKey to your mobile device and enable its clipboard syncing.
The cloud syncing feature only works with the default SwiftKey keyboard. So, make sure you’ve got that keyboard enabled. You can check your device’s keyboard settings by selecting Language and input > Default keyboard in Android’s Settings apps. Microsoft SwiftKey should be the selected default keyboard there.
Now it’s time to try out some copying and pasting of text between your Windows PC and mobile device. If you’ve done everything above, you should be good to go. You can copy and paste text from your PC to an Android tablet or smartphone like this.
Of course, you can also copy and paste text from your Android device to Windows. Enter some text into a suitable Android app. To copy the entered snippet, tap and hold some of the text to highlight it. Then drag the highlighter handles over all the text, and select the Copy option.
Look for the copied text on your Windows 11/10 clipboard. Press the Windows + V hotkey to bring up your clipboard history. You’ll see the text you copied on your Android device there like in the snapshot directly below. Select that copied item, open a word processor, and press the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut to paste it.
Text clips copied to SwiftKey’s clipboard will expire after an hour. However, you can pin items to that clipboard to keep them there. To do that, open SwiftKey and select its Rich Input and Clipboard options. You can view and delete copied items from there. Tap the pin icon for a copied item to stop it from expiring after an hour.
SwiftKey’s clipboard also has an Add a new clip option. You can select that option to add a new text snippet to the clipboard for pasting. However, you can only select to paste clips entered with that option within your Android device. New clips added with that option don’t sync with the Windows clipboard.
Cloud clipboard syncing between a Windows PC and Android mobile device can often come in handy. For example, you can seamlessly copy and paste contact number or email address details from your phone to Windows PC with clipboard syncing enabled. Thus, the Cloud Clipboard feature in Windows will be invaluable for users who often need to share data between PCs and mobile devices.
Jack has been a freelance tech journalist for more than a decade. He has covered Windows Vista, 7, 10, and 11 topics within a multitude of guides for Make Use Of and numerous other websites.
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