Clear clipboard data in Windows 10 with a shortcut or a hotkey

If you are using a public PC or sharing your Windows user account with some friend or family member, you might be interested in making sure that your clipboard (data which you have cut or copied) is empty after you leave your PC. This will ensure that you do not leave any private information in the clipboard. In this article, we will see how to create a special shortcut in Windows 10 to clear your clipboard data. Additionally, you can assign a global hotkey to this operation.

It is very easy to perform this operation without using any third party tool, as Windows 10 includes all the necessary tools out of the box.

1. How to clear clipboard data in Windows 10
2. Create a shortcut to clear clipboard data in Windows 10
3. Add a global hotkey to clear clipboard data in Windows 10

How to clear clipboard data in Windows 10

It can be done with a single command.

1. Press Win + R shortcut keys together on your keyboard to open the Run dialog. Tip: See the ultimate list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys if you are interested).
2. Type the following in the Run box:

   cmd /c echo.|clip

   Copy this line or type it carefully.

3. Press Enter on the keyboard to execute the command. Your clipboard data will be emptied.

Now, let's see how to create a shortcut to clear clipboard data in Windows 10.

Create a shortcut to clear clipboard data in Windows 10

1. Right click the Desktop and select New - Shortcut.
2. In the shortcut target box, type or copy-paste the following command:

   cmd /c echo.|clip

   

3. Specify the desired name your shortcut.
4. Right click the shortcut you created and select Properties in the context menu.
   
5. In Properties, set a nice icon for your shortcut. The suitable icon can be found in the C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll file.

Watch the following video to see the shortcut in action:

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Add a global hotkey to clear clipboard data in Windows 10

Windows 10 comes a nice feature - native global hotkeys for every installed application, yet it seems not many people are aware of it. A special text box in the shortcut properties allow you to to specify a combination of hotkeys which will be used to launch the shortcut. If you have set those hotkeys for the shortcut in the Start menu folder, then they will be available in every opened window, every application!

I covered this feature in the following article:

Assign global hotkeys to launch any app in Windows 10

To assign global hotkeys to the clear clipboard shortcut you created, do the following.

1. Press Win + R shortcut keys together on your keyboard to open the Run dialog. Tip: See the ultimate list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys).
2. Type the following in the Run box:

   shell:Start menu

   The text above is a shell command. Read the following articles for details:

   • The list of shell commands in Windows 10
   • CLSID (GUID) shell location list in Windows 10
3. The File Explorer window will appear with the Start menu folder location. Copy your shortcut there:
4. Right click the shortcut and select Properties in the context menu.Bonus tip: Instead of right click, you can also double click on the shortcut while you hold down the Alt key. See How to open file or folder properties quickly in File Explorer.
5. Set your desired hotkey in the Shortcut key textbox, and you will be able to launch the app quickly at any moment using the hotkeys you specified:

That's it.

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