Where does Windows put clipboard files? Which directory? I haven't been able to find this information. I want to recover a previous print screen.

Question

Where does Windows put clipboard files? Which directory? I haven't been able to find this information. I want to recover a previous print screen.

I didn't turn off my computer and I did 3 other print screens after the one I want to recover because I didn't paste it in Paint by error.

Answer 1

Clipboard objects are not stored in a file. When you send something to the clipboard it is stored in a location in memory that is only available to the operating system.

A web search will find 3rd party programs that will let you save multiple clipboard entries. Search on 'clipboard programs'.

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Microsoft® Security MVP, 2004 - 2009

Answer 2

So where do I look when Dropbox tells me that it has saved a link to the clipboard??? This should not be as confusing as it is.... *sigh*

Answer 3

"Saved a link to the clipboard" means that you then can paste (e.g., CTRL+V or right-click > Paste) the link into your browser's address bar or into some document ... but only until you either "cut" or "copy" something else or turn your computer off.  The link is not "saved" in the sense that it is stored somewhere on your hard drive.

Answer 4

Quick thumbs up for summing it up so well. I go back to Windows 3.1, did not do ME and Vista and have now gone from XP Professional to 8.1 ~ never felt this helpless before. Nothing "natural" works any more.

Answer 5

Thanks for the answer, LemP. If that is true, it's a really confusing way for Microsoft to have done things, considering what "clipboard" means in every other usage. Very disappointing.

Which is why it hasn't been called the clipboard for years, except in Microsoft Office where it DOES act as a clipboard.