PawEng

The clipboard in Windows can only hold one entry at a time. This has been the way Windows works since, well, forever. Luckily there are ways to super-charge your clipboard.

Clipomatic is a small program (only 96kb to download) that captures whatever you copy. To paste use CTRL-ALT-V instead of the usual CTRL-V. Clipomatic will show you a list of recent items you have copied, and you can choose which one to paste. A nice feature is the ability to have permanent items that are always ready to paste. For example, you can have your name, email address, or postal address ready to be pasted at any time. This is very convenient. Clipomatic is freeware, but tips are accepted.

xNeat is a clipboard manager for Windows XP and Vista. Like Clipomatic, it captures anything you copy. You paste using CTRL-SHIFT-V, but can be changed to another key combination if you prefer. xNeat is freeware.

ClipX is also a clipboard manager for Windows 32 and 64 bits. Like the other clipboard managers, it tracks anything you copy and allow you quick access to them again. There are a number of plugins available for ClipX, and the author also provides an SDK (software development kit) for those who want to develop their own plugins. ClipX is freeware, but donations are welcome.

Kana Clip is another clipboard manager for Windows. Kana Clip has the ability to process text before you paste it. For example, you can quote text, remove leading or trailing spaces, strip away HTML tags, sort lines, etc. Kana Clip also has permanent items for easy pasting. Kana Clip is freeware.

Update on September 6, 2008: Reader Susan points out that I forgot about Clipdiary. Clipdiary tracks everything you copy. Unlike other tools, Clipdiary keeps every you ever copied — whether it was a minute ago, or a week ago. Your clipboard will even will even survive rebooting your computer. Clipboard is freeware. (Thanks, Susan!)