Pilcrow

Explainer

Clipboard history on iPhone: where it is, and a keyboard that keeps one

Published · 3 min read

iPhone has no clipboard history. It holds exactly one thing, and the next copy replaces it. If you have lost an address by copying a link on top of it, here is what iOS does offer, and what a keyboard can add.

In short. There is no clipboard history in iOS 27: the clipboard holds your last copy only. Universal Clipboard shares that one item with your other Apple devices. For a history, use a keyboard that keeps one, such as Pilcrow, whose clipboard panel holds your recent clips on the phone for an hour, longer if pinned.

What iOS gives you

  • One item. Copying anything replaces what was there. There is no list to go back to.
  • Universal Clipboard. Copy on your Mac or iPad and paste on your iPhone, signed in with the same Apple Account.
  • The paste prompt. Since iOS 16, an app that reads what you copied in another app asks first. You can allow or deny it per app in Settings.

Keyboards with a clipboard

A third-party keyboard can keep a list of clips. iOS only lets a keyboard read the clipboard with Allow Full Access on, so check what else it does with that access, and whether the clips stay on the phone. How to choose a private keyboard lists the questions to ask.

The clipboard in Pilcrow

Clipboard history and the paste chipLeft: a clipboard panel holding three recent clips, one pinned and two with minutes left. Right: the suggestion bar showing a Paste link chip. Clipboard 12 Harbour Street, flat 4 📌 pinned https://example.com/booking 52 min left Order 4471-09 8 min left Just copied? Paste link ✕ … for a minute after you copy, without reading what you copied
Each clip stays for an hour; a pinned one stays until you unpin it. The chip offers the newest copy.
  • Clipboard history. A panel inside the keyboard holds up to twenty recent clips, each for an hour unless you pin it. Only text you paste through the keyboard is kept; it never checks the clipboard behind your back.
  • The paste chip. For a minute after you copy something new, a Paste chip waits in the suggestion bar — Paste link or Paste number where iOS can tell. One tap pastes. The keyboard knows something was copied without reading it, so the iOS paste prompt only appears when you tap.
  • Your choice of timing. The chip can last 30 seconds, a minute, three minutes or until you type, or be switched off under Settings › Toolbar.
  • On the phone only. The keyboard contains no networking code, so clips cannot leave it.

The clipboard panel and the paste chip stay free after the three free days.

Last checked October 2026 against Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27. If anything here is out of date, write to info@pilcrowtype.com.

Sources

  1. Apple, Select, edit, and move text on iPhone
  2. Apple Developer, Configuring open access for a custom keyboard
  3. Apple, Add or change keyboards on iPhone

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