Advanced Paste tool for clipboard management

PowerToys Advanced Paste converts clipboard content into the format you need. You can paste as plain text, Markdown, JSON, or files such as .txt, .html, and .png by using either the Advanced Paste window or direct keyboard shortcuts. Advanced Paste can also extract text from images by using local OCR and transcode audio or video to .mp3 or .mp4.

Non-AI paste actions run locally on your device. Paste with AI is optional and can use either an online provider or a local provider such as Foundry Local, Ollama, or Phi Silica.

Get started with Advanced Paste

Get familiar with the features and capabilities of Advanced Paste.

Enable Advanced Paste

To start using Advanced Paste, enable it in the PowerToys Settings.

Activate the Advanced Paste window

Open the Advanced Paste window with the activation shortcut (default: Win+Shift+V). For more information on customizing the activation shortcut and additional shortcut actions, see the Settings section.

Settings

From the Settings menu, configure the following options.

Paste with AI

Setting	Description
Paste with AI	Turn on AI-powered transforms in the Advanced Paste window. This setting is off by default.
Model providers	Add and manage the online and local providers that Paste with AI can use. Use Add model to add a provider, then use the provider menu to set it as the default, edit it, or remove it.
Show the AI paste input box	Show or hide the AI prompt box in the Advanced Paste window. This setting is on by default. Turn it off if you want to keep AI available only through saved actions or shortcuts.

Activation & behavior

Setting	Description
Open Advanced Paste window	Set the shortcut that opens the Advanced Paste window. The default shortcut is Win+Shift+V.
Show a preview of the current clipboard content	Show the current clipboard contents at the top of the Advanced Paste window. This setting is on by default.
Access Clipboard History	Show and select previously copied items from the Advanced Paste window.
Automatically close the window after it loses focus	Close the Advanced Paste window when you switch away from it. This setting is off by default.
Custom format preview	Preview the output of AI formats and Image to text before you paste. This setting is on by default.
Use selected text for all hotkeys	Try to copy the current text selection before running any Advanced Paste shortcut. If nothing is selected, Advanced Paste uses the current clipboard contents. This setting is off by default.

Actions

Setting	Description
Paste as plain text directly	Paste plain text without opening the Advanced Paste window. The default shortcut is Ctrl+Win+Alt+V.
Paste as Markdown directly	Paste as Markdown without opening the Advanced Paste window. This shortcut is available but unset by default.
Paste as JSON directly	Paste as JSON without opening the Advanced Paste window. This shortcut is available but unset by default.
Image to text	Turn the Image to text action on or off and optionally assign a shortcut.
Fix spelling and grammar	Turn the action on or off, assign a shortcut, and optionally choose a different AI model, prompt, and system prompt just for this action. You can also enable Coaching mode to preview an explanation of the corrections. Coaching mode supports its own shortcut, AI model, prompt, and system prompt.
Paste as file	Turn the Paste as .txt file, Paste as .png file, and Paste as .html file actions on or off and optionally assign shortcuts.
Transcode audio / video	Turn transcoding actions on or off.
Transcode to .mp3	Optionally assign a shortcut that transcodes audio or video on the clipboard to .mp3 without opening the Advanced Paste window.
Transcode to .mp4 (H.264/AAC)	Optionally assign a shortcut that transcodes video on the clipboard to .mp4 without opening the Advanced Paste window.

Custom actions

When Paste with AI is enabled, the Custom actions section lets you save prompts that you use often. For each custom action, you can set:

• A name, description, and prompt.
• An optional AI model override. If you leave the model unset, the action uses the current default provider.
• An optional shortcut.
• Whether the action appears in the Advanced Paste window.

Important

You can set Ctrl+V as an activation shortcut. This choice isn't recommended, as overriding this shortcut might have unintended consequences.

Adding a model provider

To add a model provider for use with Paste with AI, follow these steps:

1. In PowerToys Settings, go to the Advanced Paste section.
2. Under Model providers, select Add model.
3. In the Paste with AI provider configuration window, select the model provider you want.
4. Fill in the required fields for that provider.
   • Online providers can use fields such as Model name, Endpoint URL, API key, Deployment name, API version, and System prompt, depending on the provider.
   • Local providers show the local model options that apply to that provider.
5. Select Save to add the model provider.

The new model provider appears in the Model providers list. You can set one provider as the default and then override that choice for individual actions such as Fix spelling and grammar or your saved custom actions.

The following model providers are supported:

Model Provider	Type	Description
OpenAI	Online	Provides access to various AI models through an API. You need an API key and might pay for usage based on the model and how much you use it. For more information, see OpenAI's pricing page.
Azure OpenAI	Online	Offers access to OpenAI models hosted on Microsoft Azure. You need an API key and endpoint URL and might pay for usage based on the model and how much you use it. For more information, see Azure OpenAI pricing page.
Mistral	Online	Offers access to Mistral AI models through an API. You need an API key and might pay for usage based on the model and how much you use it. For more information, see Mistral pricing page.
Google	Online	Offers access to Google's AI models through an API. You need an API key and might pay for usage based on the model and how much you use it. For more information, see Google Cloud AI pricing page.
Azure AI Inference	Online	Offers access to various AI models hosted on Microsoft Azure. You need an API key and endpoint URL and might pay for usage based on the model and how much you use it. For more information, see Azure AI pricing page.
Foundry Local	Local	Lets you run local models through Foundry Local. After you install the Foundry Local CLI, restart PowerToys. If no models are available yet, run Foundry Local to download or add a model, start the Foundry Local service, and then refresh the model list in PowerToys. For more information, see the Foundry Local documentation.
Ollama	Local	Allows you to run AI models on your own machine by using Ollama. You need to install and configure the Ollama application. For more information, see the Ollama documentation.
Phi Silica	Local	Uses the on-device Phi Silica model on supported Copilot+ PCs with an NPU. PowerToys checks whether the model is ready when you add this provider. If the model isn't ready yet, select Download model and then check Windows Update for the AI model download progress.

Advanced text paste

Advanced Paste includes several text-based paste options. You find these options in the Advanced Paste window. Open the window by using the activation shortcut. You can also use customizable keyboard commands to directly invoke a paste action with quick keys.

Paste as Plain Text

Paste as Plain Text enables you to paste text stored in your clipboard, excluding any text-formatting, by using a quick key shortcut. The feature replaces any formatting included with the clipboard text with an unformatted version of the text.

Note

Paste as Plain Text is a feature that runs locally and doesn't use AI.

Paste as JSON

Paste as JSON enables you to paste text stored in your clipboard, updating any text-formatting to JSON, by using a quick key shortcut. The feature replaces any formatting included with the clipboard text with a JSON formatted version of the text.

Sample input:

<note>
    <to>Mr. Smith</to>
    <from>Ms. Nguyen</from>
    <body>Do you like PowerToys?</body>
</note>

JSON output:

{
    "note": {
        "to": "Mr. Smith",
        "from": "Ms. Nguyen",
        "body": "Do you like PowerToys?"
    }
}

Note

Paste as JSON is a feature that runs locally and doesn't use AI.

Paste as Markdown

Paste as Markdown enables you to paste text stored in your clipboard, updating any text formatting to markdown by using a quick key shortcut. The feature replaces any formatting included with the clipboard text with a markdown formatted version of the text.

Sample input:

<b>Paste</b> <i>as</i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown">Markdown</a>

Markdown output:

**Paste** *as* [Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown)

Note

Paste as Markdown is a feature that runs locally and doesn't use AI.

Paste as .txt file

Paste as .txt file enables you to paste text stored in your clipboard as a .txt file with an auto-generated file name. You can optionally set a quick key shortcut in settings.

Sample input:

Hello World!

If the application that you're using accepts pasting files (for example, File Explorer), the paste as .txt file action takes the input text and pastes a .txt file.

Note

Paste as .txt file is a feature that runs locally and doesn't use AI.

Paste as .html file

Paste as .html file enables you to paste HTML data stored in your clipboard as a .html file with an auto-generated file name. This feature is especially useful for saving a part of a webpage from a browser - including links, formatted text, and images. You can optionally set a quick key shortcut in settings.

If the application you're using accepts pasting files (for example, File Explorer), the paste as .html file action takes the input data and pastes a .html file.

Note

Paste as .html file is a feature that runs locally and doesn't use AI.

Paste text with AI

When you paste text with AI, Advanced Paste sends your clipboard text and prompt to the provider that you selected. To use this feature, configure at least one AI provider in PowerToys settings. For online providers, you must also have available credits in your account.

Note

If you use this feature and see an error API key quota exceeded, you don't have credits in your selected online AI account and need to purchase them.

Some examples of how you can use this feature include:

• Summarize text: Take long text from the clipboard and ask the AI to summarize it.
• Translate text: Take the text from the clipboard in one language and ask the AI to translate it to another language.
• Generate code: Take a description of a function from the clipboard and ask the AI to generate the code for it.
• Transform text: Take text from the clipboard and ask the AI to rewrite it in a specific style, such as a professional email or a casual message.
• Stylize text: Take text from the clipboard and ask the AI to rewrite it in the style of a well-known author, book, or speaker.

You could ask the AI to paste the text as if it were written by Mark Twain or Shakespeare, for example, or to summarize a long case study. The possibilities are endless.

Sample input:

The new Advanced Paste feature in PowerToys is now available. You can use it to save time and improve your writing.

AI output when prompting to "Format the text as if it were written by Mark Twain":

Say, have you heard the news? The newfangled Advanced Paste feature in PowerToys is finally here! It's a nifty tool that's sure to save you time and spruce up your writing. If you're in the market for a bit of writing wizardry, this here Advanced Paste just might be the ticket for ya.

Note

As with any AI tool, the quality of the output depends on the quality of the input. The more context you provide, the better the AI can understand and respond to your request. Be sure to carefully review the output before using it. For more info on AI usage in this feature, review the terms of service and privacy policy pages for your selected model provider.

Fix spelling and grammar

Fix spelling and grammar is a built-in AI action that you can run from the Advanced Paste window or from its own shortcut. In Settings, you can:

• Turn the action on or off.
• Assign a shortcut for the main action.
• Choose a specific AI model for this action, or leave it on the default provider.
• Override the action's prompt and system prompt.

You can also turn on Coaching mode. When coaching mode is enabled, Advanced Paste shows a preview that explains what changed and why. Coaching mode has its own optional shortcut, coaching AI model, coaching prompt, and coaching system prompt.

Custom actions

Custom actions let you save prompts for recurring AI transforms such as summarizing meeting notes, translating text, or rewriting text into a specific style. Saved custom actions appear in the Advanced Paste window, and you can also run them from their own shortcuts. Each custom action can use the default provider or a different provider that you choose for that action.

Advanced AI paste scenarios with OpenAI

If you use an OpenAI online model provider, the Paste with AI feature can use Semantic Kernel to allow you to define a chain of actions to perform. By using custom prompts, you can:

• Work with non-text input such as images.
• Produce non-text output like files.
• Chain multiple actions together and execute them in sequence. For example, Image to text --> Text to JSON text --> JSON text to .txt file.
• Produce meaningful AI-generated error messages.

For these example commands, assume there's an image in the clipboard that contains some text that you want to save to a text file in another language. You can phrase multiple steps explicitly:

Convert this image to text using OCR, translate the text to French, and then save the text as a .txt file.

Or you can phrase the steps to be more implicit:

Translate to French and save as a .txt file.

Note

Currently, Semantic Kernel functionality is only available when using OpenAI as the model provider.

Advanced image paste

Advanced Paste includes several image-based paste options. You can find these options in the Advanced Paste window. Open the window by using the activation shortcut. You can also set a quick key shortcut in settings.

Paste Image to text

Paste image to text enables you to extract the text from an image in your clipboard and quickly paste the extracted text by using a quick key shortcut.

Note

Paste as Image to text is a feature that runs locally by using local OCR.

Paste as .png file

Paste as .png file enables you to quickly paste an image format, like a bitmap, to a .png file. You can optionally create a quick key shortcut to invoke this paste action.

Note

Paste as .png file is a feature that runs locally and doesn't use AI.

Transcode to audio or video

The Advanced Paste window offers two paste options that work with media files. You can open the Advanced Paste window by using the activation shortcut. You can also use customizable keyboard commands to directly invoke a paste action with quick keys. To the extent possible, the feature maintains quality settings (such as video dimensions and audio bitrate) from the source file, as well as any container metadata (such as title and album).

You can cancel paste actions by selecting the cancel (X) button:

This cancel option is useful for media transcoding but also for other potentially long-running actions, such as the Paste with AI operations.

Paste actions for transcoding display their fractional progress through a progress ring. This feature might be useful for other paste actions in the future, but for now, only media transcoding uses it.

The feature uses the Windows.Media.Transcoding APIs to transcode audio and video files. You can find the list of supported codecs here.

Note

The Transcode to audio and video features run locally and don't use AI.

Transcode to .mp3

The Transcode to .mp3 feature works with both audio and video files. It extracts the audio channel from the media on the clipboard and saves it as an .mp3 file.

Use this feature to extract audio from combined audio and video files to save disk space and to work with audio-only apps and devices.

Transcode to .mp4 (H.264/AAC)

The Transcode to .mp4 (H.264/AAC) feature transcodes video files to use the H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec (if audio is present) and saves the streams to an .mp4 file. Use this feature to transcode existing video files to a more widely supported format.

Install PowerToys

This utility is part of the Microsoft PowerToys utilities for power users. It provides a set of useful utilities to tune and streamline your Windows experience for greater productivity. To install PowerToys, see Installing PowerToys.