Skip to main content

Microsoft's new cloud clipboard lets you paste from a Windows 10 PC to an iPhone

Microsoft's new cloud clipboard lets you paste from a Windows 10 PC to an iPhone

Share this story

Microsoft is unveiling a new cloud clipboard service today at the company's Build developers conference in Seattle. While the software maker has been experimenting with a variety of clipboard services, it has finally settled on one that will be implemented directly into Windows 10. The new cloud-powered clipboard will let Windows 10 users copy content from an app and paste it on mobile devices like iPhones or Android handsets.

Microsoft is making use of its Swiftkey keyboard to enable this functionality. A new tab will appear in the keyboard with a list of copied content from a Windows 10 PC. It's very similar to Apple's own Universal Clipboard that lets you copy content from a Mac and paste it into apps on an iPhone and vice versa. Apple's Universal Clipboard is limited to its own ecosystem, but Microsoft's cloud clipboard is designed to work across Windows, iOS, and Android.

Microsoft is also implementing this cloud clipboard functionality directly into Office apps, too. In a future update, you'll be able to paste content into documents after copying from a phone. It's all part of Microsoft's renewed focus on cross-platform apps and services for devices that aren't running Windows. Microsoft appears to understand that most Windows users are using iPhones or Android devices, and it wants to ensure it has features that better support that typical scenario.