--- title: "PowerShell Copy to Clipboard: Beyond Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V" description: "Discover the PowerShell Copy to Clipboard function and move beyond traditional shortcuts." canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-copy-to-clipboard/" --- # PowerShell Copy to Clipboard: Beyond Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V > Discover the PowerShell Copy to Clipboard function and move beyond traditional shortcuts. Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-copy-to-clipboard/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![PowerShell Copy to Clipboard: Beyond Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/clipboard-23638_1280.png) # PowerShell Copy to Clipboard: Beyond Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b9d42e21e5622713f8b693aa5c0f9244d5f7dd200ed29b8398f52dee5de337?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Adam Bertram](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/adam-bertram/)1 August 20192 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[PowerShell](/tag/powershell/) Table of Contents * [Old School clip.exe](#old-school-clip-exe) * [Set-Clipboard Powershell Command](#set-clipboard) * [Get-Clipboard Parameters](#get-clipboard-parameters) * [Clipboard Manipulation in PowerShell Core](#clipboard-manipulation-in-powershell-core) * [Summary](#summary) When writing code in [PowerShell](https://adamtheautomator.com/tag/powershell/) the last thing you might think about is the Windows clipboard. We all probably know the infamous Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste from the clipboard but this is typically done via the GUI. In our PowerShell scripts, it’s not too useful. However, did you know that there is PowerShell copy to clipboard function? In this article, I’m going to go over how we used to get copy and paste functionality in PowerShell and then introduce you to the cmdlets that PowerShell provides starting in version 5. Prior to PowerShell v5, the only way to copy to the clipboard was by using the _[clip.exe](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/clip)_ application. ## Old School clip.exe This application had been around a long time and just worked. By piping text to clip.exe, you could get text copied onto the clipboard. This worked but it was always annoying when it added a carriage return after each entry. ```powershell PS51> Write-Output 'Hello' | clip ``` ![Copying to clipboard with clip.exe](/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/image-5.png) The PowerShell copy to clipboard function can replace the old school clip.exe Not only that but we had no easy way to pull information from the clipboard. We were forced to manually paste the contents once they were in the clipboard. With the native clipboard commands, this is no more! We now have two cmdlets that solve this problem much better; `Get-Clipboard` and `Set-Clipboard`. ## Set-Clipboard Powershell Command [`Set-Clipboard`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/set-clipboard?view=powershell-5.1) replaces _clip.exe_ but behaves exactly the same. Now, instead of piping output to _clip_, you can use `Set-Clipboard`. If you do this, you’ll notice that the trailing carriage return is gone when you paste the contents somewhere. The clipboard now only contains the string _Hello_. ```powershell PS> Write-Output 'Hello' | Set-Clipboard ``` Another useful feature with `Set-Clipboard` is the `Append` parameter. Traditionally, the clipboard has only been able to store one item. Now, by using the `Append` parameter with `Set-Clipboard`, you can add an unlimited number of items without removing the previous. ```powershell PS> Write-Output 'Hello' | Set-Clipboard -Append ``` ## Get-Clipboard Parameters Even if you don’t use `Set-Clipboard` to copy contents to the clipboard, you can still use [`Get-Clipboard`](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/get-clipboard?view=powershell-5.1) to understand a few different types other than simple strings. For example, if you’ve copied and a list of files from _File Explorer_ and you’d like to get this list into your PowerShell console, simply use the `Format` parameter and the �`FileDropList` value on `Get-Clipboard`. ```powershell PS51> Get-Clipboard -Format FileDropList Directory: \\Mac\Home\Downloads Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- ------ 8/1/2019 10:42 AM 17919094 00_03_xr30_whatyoushouldhave.mov Directory: \\Mac\Home\Documents\Snagit\Autosaved Captures.localized Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- ------ 8/1/2019 1:58 PM 169144472 2019-08-01_13-47-55.mp4 ``` You can see that it understands the type of data in the clipboard is a list of files. Also, you can do the same with images and other entities. Copy an image from another application and use provide `-Format Image` to `Get-Clipboard` to retrieve various properties about the image. ```powershell PS51> Get-Clipboard -Format Image Tag : PhysicalDimension : {Width=813, Height=113} Size : {Width=813, Height=113} Width : 813 Height : 113 HorizontalResolution : 96 VerticalResolution : 96 Flags : 335888 RawFormat : [ImageFormat: b96b3caa-0728-11d3-9d7b-0000f81ef32e] PixelFormat : Format32bppRgb Palette : System.Drawing.Imaging.ColorPalette FrameDimensionsList : {7462dc86-6180-4c7e-8e3f-ee7333a7a483} PropertyIdList : {} PropertyItems : {} ``` ## Clipboard Manipulation in PowerShell Core Unfortunately, the `Get-Clipboard` and `Set-Clipboard` commands are not available in PowerShell Core (v6+) but you can still use them using the [WindowsCompatibility](https://github.com/PowerShell/WindowsCompatibility) module. The WindowsCompatibility module allows you to use Windows PowerShell cmdlets within PowerShell Core. Once you have the WindowsCompatibility module installed, run `Invoke-WinCommand` and wrap your `Get-Clipboard` and `Set-Clipboard` references inside. ```powershell PS622> Invoke-WinCommand -ScriptBlock {'This is on the clipboard' | Set-ClipBoard} PS622> Invoke-WinCommand -ScriptBlock {Get-ClipBoard} This is on the clipboard ``` You’ll find that you can read and write to the clipboard just as you would with Windows PowerShell. ## Summary You can do so much more with the clipboard in PowerShell nowadays. The PowerShell copy to clipboard has been made possible using the `Get-Clipboard` and `Set-Clipboard`. These cmdlets allows you to use PowerShell to copy to the clipboard and to intelligently paste from the clipboard too. For a full breakdown of the cmdlets, check out the detailed help: ```powershell PS51> Get-Help Set-Clipboard -Detailed PS51> Get-Help Get-Clipboard -Detailed ``` This will give you all of the various parameters that you can try out. 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