ClipKeep Review: Windows Clipboard Manager vs Edge Drop
ClipKeep is a free, local clipboard manager for Windows built in C# and WPF. It keeps text, links, code and images in a searchable SQLite archive, opens a Quick Paste popup with Ctrl+Shift+V, and skips card numbers, API keys and password-manager copies by default. Choose it if you mostly search old text from the keyboard. Choose Edge Drop if you mostly move images and files between apps and want to drag them out of a screen-edge shelf.
Everything below about ClipKeep comes from its GitHub README (release 1.1.2) and its Microsoft Store listing, checked in October 2026. Edge Drop is made by the team behind this site.
Which ClipKeep this is
Several projects use the name. The one compared here is the Windows tray app published on the Microsoft Store by Nixon Software Solutions (product ID 9NV59GN0P90H), with source at blindxfish/clipkeep. A separate ClipKeep repository by Tim-the-tinkerer is unrelated. The README still calls the project by its internal name, ClipForge, which is why its data lives in %AppData%\ClipForge.
What ClipKeep does
- Capture: text, URLs, email addresses, phone numbers, file paths, colours, code and images. Images are saved as PNG files on disk with thumbnails.
- Search: full-text search as you type, powered by SQLite FTS5, plus sidebar filters for All, Text, URLs, Code, Files, Images and Favorites. The Store listing adds date-range filtering and newest/oldest sorting.
- Quick Paste: Ctrl+Shift+V opens a popup at the cursor; type to filter and press Enter to paste into the previous app.
- Context: each clip records the source app and window title. Re-copying the same content bumps a counter instead of adding a duplicate.
- Secret filtering: credit card numbers (checked with the Luhn algorithm), IBANs, JWTs, API keys and private keys aren't saved by default. Password managers such as Bitwarden, 1Password and KeePass are excluded by default.
- Retention: keep forever, or auto-clean after 30, 90 or 365 days. Favorites are never auto-deleted.
- Privacy claims: no cloud, no account, no AI and no telemetry. Classification is rule-based rather than AI.
- Install: a per-user installer or a single-file portable
.exe, each for x64, ARM64 and x86, with no separate .NET runtime needed. The Store package requires Windows 10 version 17763.0 or later and is free.
Two things to know before installing. The GitHub builds aren't code-signed yet, and the README warns that SmartScreen may show an "unknown publisher" prompt; the Store package avoids that step. And while the Store listing describes ClipKeep as open source and mentions dragging clips into other apps, the GitHub repository showed no license file and the README doesn't describe drag-out. Test drag-out on the version you install rather than assuming it.
How Edge Drop differs
Edge Drop is a clipboard shelf that slides out when the cursor touches the left, right or top edge of the screen, or when you press Alt+C. Click a card to paste it into the app you were using, or drag an image or file out into Explorer, a chat window or any app that accepts dropped files. Text and link cards are click-to-paste only.
Files copied in Explorer are stored as path references, not copies, and are pasted or dragged back as the original files, so Explorer and Word receive real files rather than text paths. You can group up to 10 images or files into a stack and drag them together.
Edge Drop also has a search box, but it's narrower than ClipKeep's: it matches text, links and file names, searches long texts only within their first 300 characters, and hides images while a query is active. Searching Edge Drop history covers the details.
ClipKeep vs Edge Drop at a glance
| ClipKeep | Edge Drop | |
|---|---|---|
| Open it | Ctrl+Shift+V popup or tray | Screen-edge hover or Alt+C |
| Search old text | Full-text (FTS5) | Text, links and file names; long texts by first 300 characters |
| Get items out | Enter to paste; drag claimed on Store | Click to paste; drag images and files out |
| Files | File paths classified as a content type | Explorer copies kept as file references, pasted or dragged as real files |
| Secret handling | Pattern filters plus password-manager exclusions | Windows exclude flags, known password-manager formats, Incognito mode |
| How long history lasts | Forever, 30, 90 or 365 days | 100 to 1,000 unpinned items (250 default), optional Auto-delete timer |
| Builds | x64, ARM64, x86; installer, portable, Store | x64 only; GitHub installer or Store |
| License | No license file in repo | Apache 2.0 |
Where ClipKeep is stronger
Finding old text. If your problem is "I copied that error message on Tuesday", full-text search over a database is the right tool, and ClipKeep is built around it.
Default secret filtering. Pattern checks for card numbers, IBANs, JWTs and keys catch secrets copied from ordinary apps, not only from password managers. Edge Drop's filtering is format-based: it skips copies that carry the standard Windows "exclude from history" flags or known password-manager formats, but a key copied from a text editor is saved unless you pause capture with Incognito mode. Stopping clipboard managers from saving secrets covers both approaches.
ARM64 and portable builds. Edge Drop has neither.
Where Edge Drop is stronger
Moving files and images. Windows' own clipboard history doesn't store copied files. Edge Drop keeps Explorer copies as cards you can drag into a folder, email or design app, and groups them into stacks.
Keyboard conflicts. Ctrl+Shift+V already pastes plain text in Chrome, Edge and Firefox and does other things in Office apps, so ClipKeep's default may clash; see where Ctrl+Shift+V works and where it doesn't. Edge Drop opens on hover and its shortcut can be remapped.
Licensing. Edge Drop is Apache 2.0, which grants clear rights to read, modify and redistribute the code.
Which should you install?
- Stay with Win+V if you copy short text and paste it the same day.
- Install ClipKeep if you want a searchable, keyboard-driven archive with secret filtering, and don't mind remapping Ctrl+Shift+V if it clashes.
- Install Edge Drop if you move screenshots, images and files between apps and prefer the mouse.
Run only one of them at a time. Two clipboard watchers record everything twice and can fight over the clipboard.
FAQ
Is ClipKeep free?
Yes. The Store listing is free, and the GitHub installer and portable builds are free downloads.
Does ClipKeep upload my clipboard?
Its README says nothing is sent anywhere: no cloud sync, no accounts and no telemetry. The project is young, so if that matters to you, audit its network traffic yourself.
Where does ClipKeep store its data?
In %AppData%\ClipForge, with metadata in SQLite and images as files on disk.
Related reading
- Best Clipboard Managers for Windows in 2026: 8 Compared
- Edge Drop vs Ditto: Visual Shelf or Searchable History?
- Local-Only Clipboard Managers for Windows 11 (No Sync)
- How to Trial a Clipboard Manager for Seven Days
Sources
- blindxfish/clipkeep (GitHub) — README for 1.1.2: stack, Quick Paste, FTS5 search, filters, secret rules, retention, builds, signing note, data folder.
- ClipKeep (Microsoft Store) — publisher, price, feature list, drag claim, Windows version requirement.
- Tim-the-tinkerer/ClipKeep (GitHub) — unrelated project with the same name.
Deepender Yadav created Edge Drop and builds and tests it, from the edge-hover shelf to each release. A B.Tech Computer Science Engineering student, Deepender writes the Edge Drop guides, comparisons and developer posts, and checks product details against the app's source code.
GitHub · LinkedInCopy. Stack. Drop.
Transform your clipboard into an interactive edge shelf. Stack, pin, and drag assets into any app with zero friction.
Download for Windows Get from Microsoft Store
How to Install Guide · First 10 Minutes Guide · Drag & Drop Guide · Edge Drop vs Win+V · Support
Free · Lightweight · Privacy First