3 Ways to Clear the Clipboard in Excel

Q: Is it possible to undo the clearing of data from the clipboard?

Unfortunately, the clipboard doesn't store data permanently. So retrieving cleared data is not possible. It's always suggested to paste your copied data into another document or text file as a backup before clearing the clipboard.

The Clipboard in Excel works as a temporary storage of copied data. When you open the Clipboard, copy or cut something from an Excel workbook or any other application, you will see the copied data in the Clipboard. You can keep the copied data in the Clipboard 24 times. When you copy anything for the 25th time, the oldest copied data will be removed from the Clipboard.

In this article, you will learn 3 ways to clear the Clipboard data in Excel.

The following image provides a quick glimpse of how you can clear the Excel clipboard.

Here are 3 ways to clear the Clipboard in Excel:

1. Using the Clipboard Task Pane

You can clear all the items or individual items from the Clipboard using the Clipboard task pane.

You have the following 2 options in the Clipboard task pane to clear the copied data:

Option 1: Clear All Items

To clear all copied items from the Clipboard:

Go to the Home tab > Clipboard group > Clipboard launcher.
Or, press Alt+H+F+O.
The Clipboard task pane will appear.
In the Clipboard task pane, click on Clear All.

You can see all items have been cleared from the Clipboard.

Option 2: Clear Individual Items

To clear individual items from the Clipboard:

Open the Clipboard by pressing Alt+H+F+O keys.
Click on the drop-down arrow of any of the copied items.
Then click Delete.

You can see the select item has been deleted from the Clipboard.

You can delete more items by repeating this process.

2. Closing and Reopening the Excel File

Follow the steps below to clear the Clipboard by closing your workbook and reopening it :

Click on the Close button of the worksheet, located in the upper-right corner.
Now, open the Excel file again.

You can see all the items on the Clipboard have been cleared.

3. Applying a VBA Code

To clear the clipboard, you can use a VBA macro. This code works in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Follow the steps to clear the Clipboard by using a VBA code:

Press Alt + F11 to open the VBA Editor window.
Go to Insert > Module.

Insert the following VBA code in the module.

#If VBA7 Then
' Declare function for 64-bit version of VBA
Private Declare PtrSafe Function AccessibleChildren Lib "oleacc" _
(ByVal paccContainer As Office.IAccessible, _
ByVal iChildStart As Long, ByVal cChildren As Long, _
ByRef rgvarChildren As Any, ByRef pcObtained As Long) As Long
' Constant indicating 64-bit VBA
Public Const myVBA7 As Long = 1
#Else
' Declare function for 32-bit version of VBA
Private Declare Function AccessibleChildren Lib "oleacc" _
(ByVal paccContainer As Office.IAccessible, _
ByVal iChildStart As Long, ByVal cChildren As Long, _
ByRef rgvarChildren As Any, ByRef pcObtained As Long) As Long
' Constant indicating 32-bit VBA
Public Const myVBA7 As Long = 0
#End If
Public Sub Clear_Clipboard()
' Declare the variables
Dim command_bar, command_vis As Boolean, n As Long, Array_1 As Variant
' Initialize array with parameters (4 and 2 for 32-bit, 7 and 0 for 64-bit)
Array_1 = Array(4, 7, 2, 0)
' Set reference to Office Clipboard Command Bar
Set command_bar = Application.CommandBars("Office Clipboard")
' Store current visibility state of Office Clipboard
command_vis = command_bar.Visible
' If not visible, make it visible and allow events to process
If Not command_vis Then
command_bar.Visible = True
DoEvents
End If
' Loop through Accessible Children based on VBA version
For n = 1 To Array_1(0 + myVBA7)
AccessibleChildren command_bar, Choose(n, 0, 3, 0, 3, 0, 3, 1), 1, command_bar, 1
Next
' Perform the default action on a specific Accessible Child based on VBA version
command_bar.accDoDefaultAction CLng(Array_1(2 + myVBA7))
' Restore the visibility state of the Office Clipboard
Application.CommandBars("Office Clipboard").Visible = command_vis
' Display the Clipboard window
With Application
.DisplayClipboardWindow = True
End With
End Sub

After that, click on the Run button to run the VBA code.

Finally, the Clipboard has been cleared.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Clipboard Task Pane offers a straightforward option, allowing you to either clear all items or selectively remove specific ones. Alternatively, you can simply close and reopen your Excel file, which effectively resets the clipboard. For those with a bit more technical expertise, applying VBA code is another viable solution. It’s important to remember that once you clear the clipboard, the action is irreversible, so use these methods thoughtfully. For further queries, write in the comment box.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to show Clipboard automatically in Excel?

To show the Clipboard automatically in Excel when copying, follow the steps below:

Home tab > Clipboard group > Dialog box launcher.
In the Clipboard task pane, click Options > Show Office Clipboard Automatically.

How to show the Office Clipboard in the taskbar?

To show the Office Clipboard in the Excel Taskbar:

Home tab > Clipboard group > Dialog box launcher.
In the Clipboard task pane, click Options > Show Office Clipboard Icon on Taskbar.

Now, you will see the Office Clipboard icon at the bottom-right side of the computer’s window.

Is it possible to undo the clearing of data from the Clipboard?

Unfortunately, the Clipboard doesn’t store data permanently. So retrieving cleared data is not possible. It’s always suggested to paste your copied data into another document or text file as a backup before clearing the Clipboard.