# Clipboard Tool | Shortcuts Library

> load, preview, modify, convert, clear, save, restore, sync, and share the iOS clipboard

## What this shortcut does

A video overview of
Clipboard Tool
is available here.
Overview
Clipboard Tool
is a full-featured shortcut that can be used to
load
,
preview
,
modify
,
convert
,
clear
,
save
,
restore
,
sync
, and
share
the iOS
Clipboard
.
In addition,
Clipboard Tool
accepts input that can be used to optionally update the
Clipboard
. For example, the URL (or content) from a web page could passed and saved by accessing
Clipboard Tool
from the iOS
Share Sheet
in Safari.
Clipboard
(and
Shortcut Input
) values can be saved for later use.
Values are saved to iCloud, thus they can be shared with any device that shares the same iCloud account. Saved values can be restored to
replace
,
prepend
, or
append
the
Clipboard
.
Clipboard Tool
operation can be customized using two
Configuration Parameters
.
Summary of Features
The following
Types
are explicitly supported:
Text
🅣,
Rich text
🅡,
Image
🅘,
Media
(i.e., video, audio) 🅜,
PDF
🅟,
Dictionary
(i.e., JSON) 🅓,
File
🅕,
Archive
(i.e., zip file) 🅐. Any other types are classified as
Other
🅞.
Clipboard
Type
and
Length
(for
Text
and
Rich text
) are indicated.
The
Clipboard
can be previewed and shared.
Rich text
can be converted to
plain text
.
Dictionaries
(i.e., JSON file content) can be converted to
pretty text
.
Shortcut Input
can be optionally used to update the
Clipboard
. For example,
photos
,
screenshots
, and
videos
can be shared from the
Photo
app;
files
(of many types) can be shared from the
Files
app; and
URLs
,
Page Titles
, and
Page Content
can be shared from
iOS browsers
. The following browsers have been tested:
Safari
,
DuckDuckGo
,
Chrome
,
Browser and Documents Manager
,
Opera Touch
,
Private Browser Deluxe
,
1Password
,
Onion
,
Reedle Documents
(only passes URL, i.e., no
Page Title
under some circumstances),
Firefox
,
Firefox Focus
,
Brave
,
Edge
,
Dolphin (iOS 14 crashes)
,
Ghostery
,
Yandex
.
Clipboard
/
Shortcut Input
values can be saved and later restored. Values are saved to iCloud, thus they can be shared with any device that shares the same iCloud account.
Shortcut Input
and
Clipboard
values can be previewed/saved independently, or the
Clipboard
can be automatically updated (depending on the
Automatically Copy Shortcut Input to Clipboard
configuration parameter).
Restored values can replace, prepend, append the current
Clipboard
. If the entries are
Text
, the text is prepended or appended; other types become multiple entries in the iOS
Clipboard
(i.e., like an array, but not limited to the same
Type
). For example, the
Clipboard
could be modified to include the following:
Image
,
PDF
, and a
text string
.
Saved values are shared between iOS devices, thus a Clipboard
saved
on one device can be
restored
on another.
Titles can be optionally added to the saved entries. Titles are automatically suggested for some circumstances. For example, if the
Clipboard
includes 25 lines of text,
Clipboard Tool
will suggest the following title: 25🄻.
Text
clipboards can be modified;
Image
clipboards can be marked up.
The
Clipboard
can be cleared with or without confirmation (depending on the
Confirm Clipboard Clear
configuration parameter).
Saved clipboards can be multiple items (e.g., three images), including entries of different types (e.g.,
Image
,
Text
).
Clipboard Tool
is compatible with iOS 13 and iOS 14.
Shortcut Testing
Clipboard Tool
, Version 2.1, has been tested with the following:
iOS 13.7, 14.0.1 and 14.2 Developer Beta 3
iPhone 8 Plus
iPad Pro 10.5"
Shortcut Development and Acknowledgments
Clipboard Tool
is available exclusively at
.co
. Versions obtained elsewhere might be out-of-date.
This shortcut includes a complex Dictionary action that includes 33 context sensitive variations of the main menu. Configuring a large Dictionary like this manually would be very tedious and error-prone, thus it was built using a very creative and useful shortcut named
Dictionary Action Builder
, by
@gluebyte
.
There were a few additional JSON tools that were used during the development of this shortcut: a) The
Prettify
action included in the iOS app, Jayson, by Simon B. Støvring; b) The
Pretty Print Dictionaries
action included in the iOS app, Toolbox Pro for Shortcuts, by Alex Hay; c) [JSON FORMATTER & VALIDATOR] (https://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com), by CURIOUS CONCEPT; and d) JSONLint - The JSON VALIDATOR, by CircleCell.
As mentioned above,
Clipboard Tool
can accept values by launching it via the
Share Sheet
. Many different file types have been tested from a variety of iOS apps. During testing using the
Files
app, two iOS bugs (?) were discovered: 1) If a JSON file is long-tapped and
Share
is selected,
Clipboard Tool
is selected from the
Share Sheet
, nothing is passed to the shortcut. This appears to be a universal bug with JSON files, not necessary limited to the
Files
app. 2) If the JSON file is
copied
(rather than
shared
) and any shortcut like
Clipboard Tool
is started, the iOS
Clipboard
is
sometimes
not populated with the contents of the JSON file. This can normally be addressed by repeating the copy process from the
Files
app.
As mentioned above,
Clipboard Tool
can convert
Dictionaries
(i.e., JSON file content) to pretty text. I found the necessary actions in a shortcut created by reddit user u/gluebyte. For more information, please refer to Dictionary/JSON Pretty Print.
One weakness of iOS 14 shortcuts is that lists can be scroll sluggishly as the number of entries grow large. To circumvent this shortcoming, when the saved items exceeds a defined threshold, this shortcut combines actions that provide a means to list a subset of saved items. In addition when it exceeds another defined threshold, it includes pagination logic that was derived from
PaginateList
in
.libUILibrary
by
@entee
. Although likely unnecessary, these
list thresholds
can be adjusted using the
Choose from List (iOS 14)
dictionary embedded in the shortcut main dictionary.
The framed screenshots were created using the shortcut
Apple Frames (iOS)
from the MacStories Shortcuts Archive.
Clipboard Tool
checks for updates of itself every 7 days using
Embed-a-Update
(Version: 1.1.2, Updated: 10/13/19). On demand update checking can be performed by running
Swing Updater
.

## Compatibility

iPhone, iPad, Mac

## Required apps



[View this page](https://shortcutlibrary.app/shortcuts/clipboard-tool)

[Download Shortcuts Library on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6759494377)