# Clipboard history

> The last 25 things you copied, searchable, with pins for the snippets you paste every day. One-time codes are never kept.

Source: https://wolos.org/manual/clipboard

## What it is

A small panel that remembers the text you copied, so you can paste something from ten minutes ago without finding it again. Open it with **Shift+Super+V**. It lists your pinned snippets first, then the most recent copies, newest on top.

![The Clipboard panel: 3 click a row to copy it again, 4 the search field, 5 the pin button, 6 the remove button and Clear. The first row is pinned.](/img/manual/clipboard-annotated.png)

## Why

Copying replaces what you copied before, and the lost text is often the one you need next. A history fixes that, but a history also remembers things it should not. So the panel keeps little and forgets on purpose: it holds 25 recent copies, it never keeps a one-time sign-in code, and the recent list is gone when you log out. Only what you pin stays.

## How

1. **Copy text as usual** (Ctrl+C, or Copy in any app). It shows up at the top of the list.
2. **Open the panel with Shift+Super+V.**
   With nothing copied yet, you see "Copied text shows up here".
3. **Click a row.** Its text goes back on the clipboard and the panel closes. Paste it with Ctrl+V.
4. **Search** by typing in the field: a row matches when it contains every word you type, in any order and any case. When nothing matches, you see "No matches".
5. **Pin** a row with its pin button. Pinned rows stay at the top, survive **Clear**, and come back after a restart. Its tooltip then reads **Unpin**. You can pin up to 25.
6. **Remove** a single row with its remove button, or press **Clear** to drop every recent copy at once. Pinned rows stay until you unpin them.

What is not kept:

- **One-time codes.** Four to eight digits, maybe split by one space or dash, as banks and sign-in pages send them. They paste once and never enter the history. A notification that carries a code offers **Copy Code**; its tooltip says "Copies the code. Clipboard history skips it, and it is cleared after a minute."
- **Very long text.** A copy longer than 64 KB still pastes; it is just not listed.
- **Blank text** and an exact repeat of the newest entry.

Where it lives: recent copies only in memory, until you log out or the desktop restarts. Pins in `~/.local/state/wolos/clipboard-pins.json`, in your account only. Pinned text is plain text in that file, so pin snippets, not passwords.

## A worked example

Alice copies a street address from an email, then a phone number from a letter. Her friend asks for the address again. She presses **Shift+Super+V**, types "street" in the search field, clicks the address and pastes it with **Ctrl+V**. The address she uses every week she pins, so it is always at the top.

## If something goes wrong

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Copied text shows up here" although you copied something | The panel lists text only. A copied picture or file pastes as usual but is not listed. |
| A code you copied is missing | That is on purpose: one-time codes are never kept. Copy it again from where it came. |
| Pin does nothing | You already have 25 pins. Unpin one first. |
| Yesterday's copies are gone | Recent copies last one session. Pin what you want to keep. |