A Windows 11 or Windows 10 user can choose to copy images and text from one PC to another with a cloud-based clipboard. One can also pin the items and sync his clipboard history to the cloud. However, some prefer to keep it disabled for safety reasons. So, if you are interested in disabling Windows Clipboard ‘Sync across devices’ feature, read this post.
Disable Clipboard Sync across Windows 11/10 devices
Although you can disable the feature via a toggle in Settings, if you wish to gray out this setting, you will have to use the REGEDIT or GPEDIT methods. By doing so, you can ensure, that any other user of the same computer fails to enable this feature and accidentally syncs or exchanges potentially sensitive data (passwords) with Microsoft’s servers.
There are 3 ways via which you can disable or enable Windows 10 Clipboard ‘Sync across devices’ :
- Via Windows Settings
- Via the Registry Editor
- Via the Group Policy Editor
1] Turn on or off Clipboard sync via Settings
You will be required to be signed in with Your Microsoft Account.
In Windows 10, open Settings > System > Clipboard.
Here you can toggle the switch to enable or disable Clipboard sync.
In Windows 11, open Settings > System > Clipboard.
Toggle the switch to On or Off against Clipboard history.
Then, you need to toggle the Clipboard history across your devices button to turn it ON.
For your information, there are two options:
- Automatically sync text that I copy
- Manually sync text that I copy
You can choose either option as per your requirements.
If you have set it to On and if you are signed into your Microsoft account then you will be able to sync your clipboard across devices.
2] Disable Windows Clipboard ‘Sync across devices’ via the Registry Editor
Press Win+R in combination to bring up the ‘Run’ dialog box.
Type ‘regedit’ in the empty field of the box and press ‘Enter’.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following path address –
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
Here, right-click on the ‘System’ key (folder) in the left pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the value ‘AllowCrossDeviceClipboard’. Double-click it and set the value to ‘0.’
Close the Registry Editor. There’s no need to restart your computer.
If at any point, you feel to re-enable the feature, simply change the assigned value for ‘AllowCrossDeviceClipboard’ to ‘1’ or delete it completely.
2] Disable Windows Clipboard ‘Sync across devices’ via the Group Policy Editor
Press Win+R in combination to bring up the ‘Run’ dialog box.
Type ‘gpedit.msc’ in the empty field of the box and press ‘Enter’.
Navigate in the following sequence –
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > OS Policies.
Now, switch to the right pane, and under the Setting section, locate the ‘Allow Clipboard Synchronization across Devices’ option.
When found, double-click it and configure the ‘Allow Synchronization across Devices’ option to ‘Disabled’.
Click the ‘OK’ button to save your changes.
That’s it! You have now disabled Clipboard Sync across Windows 11/10 devices completely.
Read: How to Sync Settings across devices in Windows 11/10
How do I turn off Clipboard in Windows 11?
If you want to turn off Clipboard history in Windows 11, you need to open the Windows Settings panel by pressing Win+I first. Then, go to System and click on the Clipboard menu. Next, find the Clipboard history button and toggle it to turn the setting OFF. However, if you have enabled it via Local Group Policy Editor, you need to navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > OS Policies and open the Allow Clipboard History setting. Then, choose the Not Configured or Disabled option.
How do I turn off Clipboard sync across devices?
To turn off Clipboard sync across devices, you need to open the Windows Settings panel and go to System > Clipboard. Then, find the Sync across your devices settings and toggle the respective button. On the other hand, the same thing can be possible with the help of GPEDIT. In that case, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > OS Policies and double-click on the Allow Clipboard Synchronization across Devices setting. Next, select the Disabled option.
