Is Edge Drop Safe? Privacy, Network and Storage Explained

Yes, Edge Drop is safe for everyday use if you install the genuine app from the Microsoft Store or its GitHub releases. It has no account, no cloud sync and no telemetry; the only automatic network traffic is the GitHub build's update check. Your history stays on your PC, and its index is encrypted with Windows DPAPI. Like any clipboard manager, though, it keeps copies of what you copy, so it isn't a place for passwords and doesn't protect you from malware already running on your PC.

Edge Drop is a free, open-source (Apache 2.0) clipboard manager for Windows 10 and 11, made by the team behind this site. Everything below comes from the app's source code at version 0.3.2. It's unrelated to the Drop feature Microsoft removed from the Edge browser; see what happened to Microsoft Edge Drop.

Does Edge Drop send anything over the internet?

Not your clipboard. This is the complete list of network requests in the code:

There are no analytics or crash reports, and no account. Link cards are built from the copied web address without visiting the site, so no favicons or page previews are fetched. Links you open from the shelf open in your default browser.

The Microsoft Store build has no in-app updater at all; the Store handles updates. In the GitHub build, setting Automatic updates to Off stops every automatic request, and the Check for updates button still works when you want it. The three update modes are explained in how Edge Drop updates on GitHub builds.

To confirm this yourself, watch the app's network activity while you copy a unique string.

What Edge Drop stores, and what's encrypted

Everything lives in your Windows user profile, in %APPDATA%\Edge-Drop for the GitHub build. The Store build's files are redirected by Windows into the app's package folder under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages.

DPAPI ties the encryption to your Windows account. It helps if someone copies the file to another machine or signs in as a different user, but any program running as you can read it, and the images and long texts are plain files. Copied files are stored as references to the originals, never as copies. Where Edge Drop stores data on disk lists every file, and does DPAPI protect clipboard history from other users? explains the limits.

How Edge Drop handles passwords and sensitive copies

• Password managers: Edge Drop ignores copies carrying the standard Windows flags that ask apps to keep data out of clipboard history and monitoring, plus known password-manager clipboard formats. What Edge Drop does with password manager copies has the full list.
• Incognito mode: pauses recording while you copy something sensitive from an ordinary app. Anything copied during the pause isn't captured afterwards.
• Auto-delete timer: removes unpinned items after 1h, 6h, 24h or 7d. It's set to Never by default.
• Clear unpinned on restart: empties unpinned history each time Edge Drop starts. Off by default.
• Clear options: delete one item, clear the last hour, 6 hours or 24 hours, or clear all history.

Pinned items survive all of these, so don't pin one-time codes or passwords. A secret copied from a text editor or terminal is saved like any other text unless you pause capture first.

Microsoft Store build vs GitHub build

Both are built from the same public repository; the difference is delivery.

The Store package isn't a sandboxed app. It declares two capabilities: internetClient, and runFullTrust, which makes it a full-trust desktop app running at medium integrity, the same level as a normally installed program. Choose the Store build if your PC only allows Store apps or you'd rather have no in-app updater; choose GitHub if you want updates as soon as they're released. Choosing between the two builds is covered in more depth in GitHub installer or Microsoft Store.

Checks to run before you install

1. Get it only from the Microsoft Store listing or the GitHub releases page, never from a download mirror. Clipboard managers see everything you copy, so a fake installer is the real risk.
2. Check the publisher: "Deepender" on the Store, the Deepender25 account on GitHub, and an Apache 2.0 license in the repository.
3. Confirm the app never asks you to sign in. Edge Drop has no accounts.
4. Run only one clipboard manager, so every copy isn't recorded twice.
5. Decide on retention: turn on the Auto-delete timer or Clear unpinned on restart if others use your PC.
6. If you hand the PC on, uninstall Edge Drop and then check for and delete its data folder; uninstalling Edge Drop cleanly shows where to look.

What no clipboard manager can protect you from

• Malware on your PC. Any program running in your session can read the current clipboard, with or without a clipboard manager.
• Windows' own clipboard sync. If Clipboard history across your devices is on in Windows Settings, Windows syncs copied text through your Microsoft account. Edge Drop doesn't change that setting.
• Pins and long retention. The more history you keep, the more there is to find on a shared or lost laptop.

FAQ

Does Edge Drop upload what I copy?

No. There's no sync, account or telemetry in the code. The GitHub build contacts GitHub only to check for and download updates.

Is Edge Drop made by Microsoft?

No. It's an independent open-source app that's also distributed through the Microsoft Store. The Store publisher is "Deepender", not Microsoft Corporation.

Is all of Edge Drop's data encrypted?

No. Only the history index is encrypted with DPAPI. Images, long texts and settings are stored as regular files in your user profile.

Can I use Edge Drop at work?

Check your organisation's policy first. Some IT departments block third-party clipboard managers or allow only Store apps.

Related reading

• Is Windows Clipboard History Safe?
• What Edge Drop Does With Password Manager Copies
• How to Use Incognito Mode in Edge Drop
• How to Check If a Windows App Has Telemetry

Sources

• Edge Drop source code (GitHub) — network requests, storage, encryption, exclusion formats and settings in version 0.3.2.
• Edge Drop (Microsoft Store) — publisher and listed capabilities.
• safeStorage (Electron docs) — DPAPI-based encryption on Windows.
• CryptProtectData (Microsoft Learn) — how DPAPI ties encryption to the user's credentials.
• App capability declarations (Microsoft Learn) — full-trust packaged desktop apps run at medium integrity.
• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — clipboard history sync across devices.

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