How to Set Auto-Delete Timers in Edge Drop
Edge Drop can delete old clipboard items for you. Open Settings from the tray icon, go to the Behaviour tab, and under Storage & Retention pick an Auto-delete timer: Never (the default), 1h, 6h, 24h or 7d. Unpinned items older than that period are removed automatically; pinned items are always kept.
How to turn on the auto-delete timer
- Right-click the Edge Drop icon in the system tray (it may be under the arrow that shows hidden icons) and select Settings.
- Open the Behaviour tab.
- Scroll to Storage & Retention.
- Under Auto-delete timer, select 1h, 6h, 24h or 7d.
The setting's description in the app reads "Automatically purge copied items (preserves Pinned)". To switch it off again, select Never.
When does Edge Drop delete expired items?
Edge Drop checks for expired items at three moments:
- when the app starts,
- every time it captures a new copy, and
- every 60 seconds while it runs.
So an item disappears within about a minute of passing the age limit. If Edge Drop wasn't running when an item expired (the PC was off, or you quit the app), it's removed the next time Edge Drop starts.
Which timer should you choose?
| Timer | What you keep | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Never (default) | Everything, up to your history capacity | A personal PC where you often reuse older clips |
| 7d | About a week of copies | Personal use, with a ceiling on how long things linger |
| 24h | Roughly today's work | A daily clean slate without losing the current day |
| 6h | One working session | Work that involves customer data, keys or other sensitive text |
| 1h | Only the last hour | Shared or hot-desk PCs, or very sensitive work |
Pin anything you need beyond the timer. Pins ignore the timer completely, so a short timer plus a few pins gives you a small, stable set of reusable items and a history that cleans itself. How to pin and unpin items in Edge Drop covers pinning.
How the timer works with history capacity
Edge Drop also limits history by count. History capacity, in the same Storage & Retention section, keeps at most 100, 250 (the default), 500 or 1000 unpinned items and removes older ones once the limit is reached. Pinned items don't count toward it.
The two limits work together: whichever is reached first removes an item. With the timer on Never, capacity alone decides how much history you keep, so history never grows without bound.
Auto-delete vs the other ways to clear history
| Control | Where | What it removes |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-delete timer | Behaviour > Storage & Retention | Unpinned items older than 1h, 6h, 24h or 7d, continuously |
| Clear unpinned on restart | Behaviour > Clipboard Rules | All unpinned items each time Edge Drop starts |
| Clear menu | On the shelf | Items from the last hour, 6 hours or 24 hours, or all history, once |
| Incognito mode | Behaviour, or the tray menu | Nothing; it stops new copies from being recorded |
Note the direction of the Clear menu: Clear last hour removes your most recent items, which is useful right after copying something sensitive. The timer does the opposite and removes the oldest. None of these remove pinned items.
For the restart option, see clearing Edge Drop history on restart. To stop a password or key from being recorded in the first place, incognito mode is the better tool.
What auto-delete doesn't do
- It isn't a secure wipe. Items are removed from Edge Drop's history, but in version 0.3.2 the separate text file kept for a long clip (over 300 characters) can remain in the
payloadsfolder after the timer removes the item. Where Edge Drop stores data on disk lists each file and folder. - It doesn't touch Windows clipboard history. If Win+V history is on, the same copy is also kept there under Windows' own rules; automatically clearing Windows clipboard history covers scheduling that side. How to clear clipboard history on Windows 11 covers that side.
- It can't be undone. There's no recycle bin for expired items.
FAQ
Does auto-delete remove pinned items?
No. Pinned items are never removed by the timer, by history capacity, by Clear all history or by Clear unpinned on restart. Unpin an item if you want it to expire normally.
Can I set a custom time, such as 30 minutes or 3 days?
No. The choices are Never, 1h, 6h, 24h and 7d.
Does a shorter timer make Edge Drop faster?
There's no published measurement either way. The main effect is less history to scroll and search.
Related reading
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