SwiftKey now connects copy and paste across Android and Windows

Microsoft SwiftKey is getting a handy new feature that syncs your clipboard across Android and Windows devices (via MSPoweruser). So if you use SwiftKey on your Android device, you’ll be able to paste any text you’ve copied on your Windows computer (and vice versa).

As MSPoweruser notes, the feature, called Cloud Clipboard, comes as a part of the most recent SwiftKey update, pushing the current version to 7.9.0.5. It was first available in the beta version of Microsoft SwiftKey in August, but now it’s officially rolled out to everyone.

SwiftKey has instructions on how to use the Cloud Clipboard on its support page. The feature isn’t enabled by default, and it requires a PC with the Windows 10 2018 update or later. You also have to set up the feature on both platforms before you can start using it.

To enable the feature on Android, make sure you’ve downloaded the latest version of the app from Google Play, and then open SwiftKey. Select Rich input > Clipboard, and toggle on “Sync clipboard history to the cloud.” SwiftKey will then prompt you to sign in or create a Microsoft account.

You can enable the Cloud Clipboard on your Windows PC by heading to Settings > System > Clipboard. From there, turn on both the “Clipboard history” and “Sync across devices” toggles. After you sign in to your Microsoft account, your clipboards should be synced.

SwiftKey’s support page also notes that the Cloud Clipboard will only save the last piece of text you’ve copied and will automatically delete the clip after one hour. Your last copied clip will appear in the SwiftKey prediction bar, letting you quickly paste the text on your phone. Concerning the security of copying and pasting data across the cloud, SwiftKey only says that the clip data is encrypted, not processed or stored by their service, and is “not associated with your Microsoft account.”

Microsoft first began exploring the concept of a Cloud Clipboard in 2017, and that vision also included iPhones. It’s unclear when (or if) the Cloud Clipboard will be available to iPhone users — SwiftKey’s support page vaguely says that it’s “not possible to sync your clips to iOS at this time.”