I’m always looking to do things more efficiently. I only have a certain amount of time each day (as we all do) and, despite working long hours, I have to find a way to cram it all in at once. That’s why I think it’s important never to take shortcuts for granted when one is offered to you.

My efficiency and productivity prowess extend to my computer. Not only do I handle all kinds of tasks from my computer, but I also focus on the best ways to do things faster. One of the more subtle features that someone might not think about often is the clipboard history. It’s available on Windows if you press the Windows button and C at the same time. From there, there’s so much you can do with it.

Clipboard history does more than show you what you’ve copied

It gives you access to more

Most people probably just press Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + V (or Command + C / Command + V for Mac users) and copy and paste the last thing in their clipboard, and don’t think much about it. It’s a quick and efficient way to move text or numbers from one place to another. Your computer stores short-term information and then allows you to replicate it elsewhere, saving you from having to type the same things again.

But you can open your Clipboard history and see how much you’ve copied. By pressing Windows + V, it populates an entire box that shows you your Clipboard history, meaning you’ll see the most recent 25 blocks of text that you’ve copied.

Trying to utilize more than just what you’ve recently copied is smart because it doesn’t limit your abilities. You don’t have to copy one thing, paste it, and then copy another just to keep up with what you have. You can copy multiple things, open the Clipboard history, and then click on what you want to paste from a long list of items. It speeds up what you’re doing and makes you work more efficiently. But that’s not the only productivity pluses from Clipboard history.

Just yesterday, I was combining three different documents into one. Rather than copy one bit from one document and paste it into another one, I copied large sections from all the documents and then just populated the Clipboard history and clicked on which sections needed to be pasted where. It saved me a ton of time and helped me get the new document looking exactly how I needed it to look.

Pinning items lets you use them over and over

I use this frequently during work

If you don’t want to lose something that you’ve copied, you can keep it pinned to the top of your list. If you have the Clipboard history open, there is a small pin icon on the bottom right of each item. If you click it, it will pin the item towards the top of your list. Windows is incredibly helpful because it lets you use an unlimited number of pins. You can even use unlimited pinned items on top of your 25 most recently used ones.

Items that are not pinned are reset if you have more than 25 items in your clipboard or if the computer is restarted. But pinned items aren’t affected by the limits or a reset. The next time you boot your computer up, the pinned items will still be in your Clipboard history.

I’ve used this trick many times for work, as I frequently will have to send emails and include information at the bottom of some emails. Rather than putting a signature on the bottom of only some of my emails, which would require me to go into the Signature menu in Outlook and select which one I want, I pinned them to my list and can click a different one when I need it. It saves me time from keeping them in an email and having to open up that draft to find them, too.

Add emojis with ease

It’s the best place to find your built-in library of GIFs and fun

If you’re an overwhelmed Gmail user trying to keep track of all the features, you probably know there’s a simple way to add emojis by clicking on the Insert emojis button at the bottom of an email. For Windows and Outlook, you need to open the Emojis pane. This is done by the same process as the Clipboard history, as they all belong in the same part of the operating system. Typing Windows + V will populate the same window as Clipboard history, and at the top, there are options for different additions to your text.

You can use emojis, kaomojis, and GIFs to enter them into your text. Whether that be email, text documents, or even things like slideshows, you can use this panel to add them to your writing. There is an extensive list of all of these, giving you the freedom to add some creativity to your list.

I use them over and over in different applications, making it easier to add a little fun. For the GIFs, you can search for a keyword while you’re in the panel and unlock a lot of options. Rather than using a third-party emoji keyboard or even the terrible one in Gmail, the one offered in Clipboard history is simple to use and offers a wide variety of options.

Sync your clipboards across devices

This requires them to be signed in to the same account

While a lot of people have problems with Microsoft and Windows, Windows also makes it easy for you to keep your Clipboard history going, even on a different machine. Let’s say you are working on something at home on your Windows computer. If you need to save something on that computer and reuse multiple lines of text, you can save and pin them to your Clipboard history.

If you’re going to be using a different Windows computer somewhere else, like a print shop or an office, you can log into your Windows account and use your Clipboard history panel there. Your Clipboard history syncs to your Windows account, allowing you to log in to it from different Windows devices. This is incredibly beneficial from a productivity standpoint because you don’t have to save things in an email draft or even save them to a USB drive.

If you are at all leery about saving large blocks of text to your Clipboard history, there’s no character limit, meaning you can save entire documents without an issue. Then, you can access those blocks as soon as you log into your Windows account on a device.

Clipboard history is more helpful than you might realize

Being able to have 25 saved items at any point and time is a big help when you’re using Clipboard history. You don’t have to worry about copying something and pasting it before you can copy something else again. It helps you when you need to bulk copy items and can speed up your efficiency while you’re working. Clipboard history can also add emojis and GIFs to your writing, making for a multi-faceted feature on your Windows computer.