How to Filter Text, Links, Images, and Files

A clipboard shelf that mixes text, links, images, and files in one column is hard to scan when it grows past a dozen items. Filters narrow the view by format so the user can find a specific image, a specific link, or a specific file without scrolling past unrelated text. Edge-Drop's filter row sits at the top of the shelf and offers five options: All, Text, Links, Images, Files. This article covers how to use the filter row, how filter state interacts with the pinned and unpinned sections, how to set a default filter on shelf open, and how filters combine with search and pins. For the sibling feature — finding an item by content — see how to search clipboard history in Edge-Drop. For the onboarding context, see hover, pin, and drag-out in ten minutes.

What the filters are

The shelf has five filters:

• All — the default. Shows every item regardless of format.
• Text — shows only text items (plain text, code snippets, paragraphs, log excerpts).
• Links — shows only link items (URLs copied from the browser address bar, hyperlinks copied from web pages, mailto links).
• Images — shows only image items (screenshots, copied image selections, image files copied from Explorer).
• Files — shows only file items (any non-image file copied from Explorer, including PDFs, documents, archives).

The classification is by format, not by source. A URL copied from a Slack message is still a Link. A PNG copied from a Slack message is still an Image. The format detection runs on the clipboard format flags set by the source app, not on heuristics about the source.

Where the filter row lives

The filter row sits at the top of the shelf, below the search field. To use it:

1. Open the shelf (hover at the configured edge, or press the toggle hotkey).
2. Click a filter button (All / Text / Links / Images / Files).
3. The shelf narrows to items of that format.
4. Click All to return to the full view.

The filter takes effect immediately. There is no Apply button. The active filter is highlighted (typically with the accent colour set in the Appearance tab).

The independent per-section state

The key subtlety is that filter state is independent per pinned section. That is:

• The pinned section has its own filter state.
• The unpinned section has its own filter state.
• The two states do not affect each other.

This means the user can have the pinned section showing all pinned items (filter: All) while the unpinned section shows only images (filter: Images). The two views coexist on the same shelf.

The use case is straightforward: a designer with five pinned images and ten unpinned text snippets can click Images on the unpinned section to see only the recent images, while the pinned section still shows all five pinned images (and any pinned text snippets). The pinned section's filter is independent, so its All state is preserved.

The interaction can be confusing on first encounter. A user who clicks Images expecting the entire shelf to filter to images will see only the unpinned section change. To filter both sections, click Images in both. To reset, click All in both.

Default filter on shelf open

The Behaviour tab has a Default filter setting that controls which filter is active when the shelf opens. The default is All; alternatives are Text, Links, Images, or Files. Setting a default filter is useful for workflows that consistently work in one format:

• Default filter: Images — for a designer who drag-drops image assets all day. The shelf opens showing only images; text and links are still accessible by clicking All.
• Default filter: Files — for a developer who drag-drops file paths into terminals. The shelf opens showing only files.
• Default filter: Links — for a researcher who collects URLs. The shelf opens showing only links.

The default filter applies to the unpinned section's initial state on each shelf open. The pinned section's filter state persists across shelf open/close cycles (it is not reset on shelf open).

To set the default filter, open Settings → Behaviour → Default filter → choose from the dropdown.

How filters combine with search

Search runs against the current view. If a filter is active, search runs against only the items that pass the filter. The combination is powerful but easy to misread:

The common mistake is searching for a text substring while the Images filter is active. The search returns nothing because the Images filter excludes text items. The fix is to switch the filter to All (or to Text) before searching. For the full search treatment, see how to search clipboard history in Edge-Drop.

How filters combine with pins

Pins are subject to the same filter as their section. A pinned image is visible when the pinned section's filter is All or Images; it is hidden when the pinned section's filter is Text, Links, or Files.

The pin flag is independent of the filter — pinning an item does not change its format, and filtering does not unpin items. The two features compose: pin to persist, filter to narrow.

For the full pin treatment, see how to pin and unpin items in Edge-Drop.

How filters combine with stacks

A stack is a collection of up to 10 items merged into a single shelf card. The stack appears in the filter view of any of its constituent items' formats. That is, a stack containing two images and a text snippet appears under All, Images, and Text.

This is intentional — the stack is reachable from any filter that would show at least one of its items. For the full stack treatment, see how to merge and split stacks in Edge-Drop.

How Edge-Drop filters differ from Win+V filters

Windows clipboard history (Win+V) does not have a format filter in the same sense. Win+V has a search field and a pinned-section indicator, but no buttons to narrow by format. Users who want "only images" in Win+V must scroll past text and links. Edge-Drop's filter row is the answer to that gap.

The differences:

For the longer treatment, see clipboard history for images only: can you filter and what the Windows clipboard can and cannot store.

Practical filter recipes

A few recipes that solve common shelf-navigation problems:

Recipe A: the "find an image" recipe

1. Open the shelf.
2. Click Images on the unpinned section.
3. Scroll the (now images-only) unpinned section.
4. If the image is not found, click All and try the search field with the file name.

Recipe B: the "find a URL" recipe

1. Open the shelf.
2. Click Links on the unpinned section.
3. Scroll the (now links-only) unpinned section.
4. If the URL is not found, click All and try the search field with the domain.

Recipe C: the "designer's default" recipe

1. Settings → Behaviour → Default filter → Images.
2. Pin the five most-used image assets (see how to pin and unpin items in Edge-Drop).
3. Set the pinned section's filter to All (so all pinned items show).
4. The shelf now opens with the unpinned section showing only recent images, and the pinned section showing all five pinned assets.

Recipe D: the "developer's default" recipe

1. Settings → Behaviour → Default filter → Files.
2. Pin frequently-used file paths (e.g., the monorepo root, the logs folder).
3. The shelf opens with the unpinned section showing only recent files, and the pinned section showing the pinned paths.

Troubleshooting filters

A few failure modes:

• Filter button does not respond. The shelf may be in a transient state. Close and reopen the shelf. If the issue persists, restart Edge-Drop.
• Filter shows no items despite copies existing. The copies may be in a different format than the filter expects. A file copy from Explorer may be classified as Files, not Images, even if the file is an image — depending on how the source app set the clipboard format. Click All to see all items and verify.
• Filter state does not persist across shelf open/close. The unpinned section's filter state resets to the Default filter on each shelf open. The pinned section's filter state persists. This is by design.
• Settings revert after restart. A second Edge-Drop instance is overwriting config.json (e.g., both a Store build and a GitHub build are installed). Uninstall one. See how to uninstall Edge-Drop cleanly.

What filters do not do

Filters narrow the view. They do not:

• Delete items. Filtering to Images does not delete text or link items; it hides them.
• Change capture behaviour. Edge-Drop captures all formats regardless of the active filter.
• Affect drag-out. A filtered view still allows drag-out of any visible item.
• Sync across machines. Edge-Drop has no cloud sync; filter state is per-machine.
• Persist the unpinned section's filter across shelf open/close. The unpinned section resets to the Default filter on each open.

For the broader product behaviour, see Edge-Drop settings map: Behaviour, Position, Appearance.

When NOT to use filters

Filters are not the right tool when:

• The shelf is short. A shelf with five items does not need filtering; scrolling is faster than clicking a filter button.
• The user needs to find an item by content, not format. Use search instead.
• The user needs to find an item by source app. Neither filters nor search support this directly; consider pinning items from a specific source app to make them easier to find.
• The user is on a 4 GB RAM machine. Edge-Drop's 130–160 MB footprint is a real cost; filters do not change that. See when not to use Edge-Drop.

Summary

Click a filter button at the top of the shelf to narrow the view by format: All, Text, Links, Images, or Files. Filter state is independent per pinned section, so the pinned and unpinned views can show different formats. The Default filter setting in the Behaviour tab controls which filter is active on shelf open (applies to the unpinned section). Filters compose with search (search runs against the filtered view) and with pins (the pin flag is independent of the filter). Filters do not delete items, change capture behaviour, or sync across machines. They are the right tool for navigating a busy shelf by format; search is the right tool for finding an item by content.

Related reading

• How to Merge and Split Stacks in Edge-Drop
• How to Drag an Item Out of Edge-Drop Into Any App
• How to Install Edge-Drop on Windows 10 and 11
• What Local-First Software Means for Clipboard Apps

Sources

• Microsoft Support — Using the clipboard on Windows — official description of the Win+V surface that Edge-Drop's filter row extends with format narrowing
• Microsoft Learn — Standard Clipboard Formats — official list of clipboard formats that Edge-Drop classifies into the five filter buckets
• Microsoft Learn — Clipboard Formats — Win32 reference for the format flags Edge-Drop reads to classify each item
• Microsoft Learn — Shell Clipboard Formats — reference for the HDROP format Edge-Drop uses to classify file items
• Edge-Drop — GitHub README — official source of truth for the filter row, the independent per-section state, and the Default filter setting

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