Clipboard Test

Clipboard Test checks copy and paste, and shows you exactly what is on your clipboard. When you copy something, apps usually put it there in several formats at once: copying from a web page or a Word document stores plain text and also the formatting as HTML (and sometimes RTF); copying a picture stores the image; copying in some web apps adds their own private formats. Paste into the box here and the page lists every format with its size and shows its content — HTML as source code, pictures as pictures — which explains why pasted text sometimes carries strange fonts, colours or hidden links. The Copy button checks the other direction: it writes a line of text with the time to the clipboard, so pasting it into another app proves copying from the browser works. Read the clipboard asks the browser for what is there directly, which some browsers allow only after your permission.

1. Press Copy test text, then paste into another app (a notes app, a chat) to check copying works.
2. Copy something anywhere — text from a web page, a cell from a spreadsheet, a screenshot — then click the paste box and press Ctrl+V (⌘+V on a Mac).
3. Read the list of formats and their contents underneath.
4. Or press Read the clipboard and allow it if the browser asks.

• Browsers protect the clipboard. Reading it directly needs your permission in Chrome and Edge, shows a small Paste button in Firefox and Safari, and works only while the page is in front. Pasting into the box always works, because you choose to paste.
• Direct reading returns only the formats the browser allows — usually plain text, HTML and PNG pictures. Pasting can show more, including custom formats web apps use.
• Files copied in a file manager arrive as files on some systems and only as their names on others.
• Very long text is counted in full but only the first 20,000 characters are shown.
• If Copy is refused, the page may need a click first: browsers allow writing to the clipboard only after you have interacted with the page.
• What you paste or read is shown on this page only. It is not uploaded, saved or sent, and the page works offline. HTML from the clipboard is shown as text and never run or drawn, so a pasted web page cannot do anything here. Pictures are shown from your device’s memory and released when you paste again or leave.

Because the clipboard holds a formatted HTML copy as well as plain text, and the app you paste into prefers the formatted one. Paste here to see the HTML. To paste without formatting, use Ctrl+Shift+V (⌘+Shift+Option+V on a Mac) in most apps.

Press Copy test text and paste elsewhere. If that works, the browser and system clipboard are fine and the problem is in the app you copy from. If it fails everywhere, restarting the computer usually fixes it; on Windows, a clipboard manager or remote-desktop app can also interfere.

No. Current browsers let a page read the clipboard only when you paste into it, or after asking your permission. A page can write to your clipboard after you click on it, which is what Copy buttons do.

No. Everything is shown on this page from your device’s memory and is gone when you leave.