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Advanced Paste

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PowerToys Advanced Paste is a tool that enables you to paste the content from your clipboard into any format needed. It can paste as plain text, markdown, JSON, .txt file, .html file, or .png file directly with the UX or with a direct keystroke invoke. It can also extract and paste the text directly from an image in your clipboard. These actions are executed entirely on your local machine. Additionally, the tool has an AI-powered option that is 100% opt-in and requires entering an OpenAI key in settings.

Getting started

Enabling

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

Activating

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

Settings

From the Settings menu, the following options can be configured:

Setting Description
Enable Paste with AI Enables the AI-powered paste feature. An OpenAI API key is required (requires an account on platform.openai.com).
Custom format preview Enable to preview the output of the custom format before pasting.
Clipboard history Enable to automatically save clipboard history.
Open Advanced Paste shortcut The customizable keyboard command to open the Advanced Paste window.
Automatically close the Advanced Paste window after it loses focus Determines whether the Advanced Paste window will close after focus is lost from the window.
Custom Actions Create and manage advanced paste custom actions. (Requires Paste with AI to be enabled).
Paste as plain text directly shortcut The customizable keyboard command to paste as plain text without opening the Advanced Paste window.
Paste as Markdown directly shortcut The customizable keyboard command to paste as Markdown without opening the Advanced Paste window.
Paste as JSON directly shortcut The customizable keyboard command to paste as JSON without opening the Advanced Paste window.
Additional actions: Image to Text Turn on/off the Image to text paste action and configure the customizable keyboard command.
Additional actions: Paste as file Turn on/off the set of Paste as File actions which include Paste as .txt file, Paste as .png file, Paste as .html file. Optionally configure the customizable keyboard command for each of these actions.

Important

It's possible to set Ctrl+V as an activation shortcut. This is not recommended, as overriding this shortcut may have unintended consequences.

Advanced text paste

Advanced Paste includes several text-based paste options. These options are available in the Advanced Paste window, which can be opened using the activation shortcut. You can also use the customizable keyboard commands to directly invoke a paste action with quick keys.

Advanced Paste screenshot

Paste as Plain Text

Paste as Plain Text enables you to paste text stored in your clipboard, excluding any text-formatting, using a quick key shortcut. Any formatting included with the clipboard text will be replaced with an unformatted version of the text.

Paste as Plain Text screenshot

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, using a quick key shortcut. Any formatting included with the clipboard text will be replaced 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, using a quick key shortcut. Any formatting included with the clipboard text will be replaced 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 pasting files is accepted within the application that you are using (e.g. File Explorer), then the paste as .txt file action will take the input text and paste a .txt file.

Paste as .html file

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

Sample input:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>PowerToys</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>PowerToys</h1>
    <p>PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows experience for greater productivity.</p>
</body>
</html>

If pasting files is accepted within the application that you are using (e.g. File Explorer), then the paste as .html file action will take the input text and paste a .html file.

Paste text with AI

When you paste text with AI, the text is analyzed and formatted based on the context of the text and the prompt provided to the OpenAI call. This feature requires that an OpenAI API key be provided in the PowerToys settings, and that you have available credits in your account.

Note

If you use this feature and see an error API key quota exceeded, that means you do not have credits in your OpenAI account and would need to purchase them.

Some examples of how this feature can be used 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 is dependent on the quality of the input. The more context you provide, the better the AI will be able to understand and respond to your request. Be sure to carefully review the output before using it. Please see OpenAI's privacy and terms pages for more info on AI usage in this feature.

Advanced image paste

Advanced Paste includes several image-based paste options. These options are available in the Advanced Paste window, which can be opened using the activation shortcut. You can optionally set a quick key shortcut in settings.

Advanced Paste image screenshot

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, using a quick key shortcut.

Note

Paste as Image to text is a feature that runs locally 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.

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.