Which Clipboard Apps Never Upload Your Clips?

“Local-first” should mean the app’s default history stays on the disk of this PC, with no account upload unless the user turns a named sync feature on. It does not mean the Windows Clipboard history across your devices toggle is off. That toggle is a Microsoft feature. It can upload text even if every third-party app is honest.

This list is for people who want more than Win+V without sending copies to a vendor cloud. It is not a ranking and not a claim that any app “wins.” Caveats on LAN sync are included because those are still a network path.

Turn Microsoft’s upload off first

1. Settings > System > Clipboard.
2. Clipboard history may stay On for the 25-item panel, or Off if a third-party list will replace it.
3. Clipboard history across your devices Off.
4. Automatically sync text that I copy not selected.

How to Disable Windows Clipboard Cloud Sync. Does Windows Clipboard Sync Upload What You Copy?.

History, if left on, still follows official rules: 25 items, 4 MB, text / HTML / bitmap, unpinned clear on restart, pins persist. A local manager does not change those numbers for Win+V.

What to verify on any “local” app

Before trusting a download:

• Publisher or GitHub releases page, not a random aggregator.
• A documented data directory under the user profile.
• Sync off or absent in default settings.
• Honor for Microsoft ignore formats if vault copies happen. What Sensitive Formats Should Monitors Ignore?.
• A way to delete all items and uninstall cleanly. How to Wipe Clipboard Data Before Selling a PC.
• Optional: watch for unexpected sockets. How to Audit Whether a Clipboard App Talks to the Network.

Ditto

Ditto is a long-running Windows clipboard extension. The project describes itself as saving each clipboard item to a local database for later paste. The public site has used Local First language and documents Windows code-signing.

Stays local when: network/sync features in Ditto’s options are left off (Ditto has historically offered optional sharing; treat that as a separate product mode). History then lives in Ditto’s database in the user profile.

Caveats:

• Optional sync or shared-database setups are not “no upload.” A folder in OneDrive is an upload even if Ditto is “just writing a file.”
• It will store whatever the clipboard contains unless ignore rules are configured. Vault copies can land there.
• It is a tray history, not a file drag shelf.

Good fit: keyboard-driven reuse of lots of text on one PC.

CopyQ

CopyQ is open source, scriptable, and cross-platform. The documentation includes a Security page that lists the Microsoft ignore formats it skips (ExcludeClipboardContentFromMonitorProcessing, CanIncludeInClipboardHistory = 0, CanUploadToCloudClipboard = 0, Clipboard Viewer Ignore).

Stays local when: no shared tab, no command that pushes items to a remote, no Dropbox-backed config directory.

Caveats:

• GitHub issues discuss syncing via a shared folder. That is the user’s cloud, not CopyQ’s, and it is still a cloud.
• Scripting can send data anywhere a script can reach. A trusted config is part of the trust model.
• Heavier than a 25-item panel. That is the point.

Good fit: people who want filters, encryption options CopyQ documents, and ignore-format hygiene.

Edge-Drop

Edge-Drop is a local hover shelf for Windows. It watches the clipboard on the PC, stores items in a local app data file, and can start an OS-level drag so an image or file can be dropped into Explorer, Word, or similar. It is built to stay on the machine; it is not a Microsoft-account sync product.

Stays local when: used as shipped, without pointing its data folder at a synced cloud path.

Caveats:

• It is not a full scripting environment like CopyQ.
• It is not an antivirus and not a clipper detector. Clipboard Malware vs a Clipboard Manager.
• If the shelf is used to keep secrets, it becomes another secret store. Do not do that.

Good fit: designers and anyone who needs to drag a recent screenshot or file, which Win+V will not do. Optional, not required for privacy.

EcoPaste and other lightweight locals

EcoPaste is commonly discussed as a lighter, modern clipboard app (Tauri-based in public comparisons). Treat it like the others: read the current project’s README for any cloud or LAN toggle before calling it local.

Other names that can be local if configured that way: ArsClip, Clipdiary (Clipdiary also markets logging depth — a longer local store is still a store), older ClipX (legacy; not a 2026 recommendation). ClipX in 2026: Nostalgia Is Not a Recommendation.

Apps that are not in this list on purpose

Clipboard Fusion and similar commercial tools may offer cloud macros or account features. Read the vendor page. They can be excellent products and still fail a “do not upload” rule. Edge-Drop vs ClipboardFusion: Local Shelf vs Cloud Macros.

1Clipboard and generic “cloud clip” apps exist to sync. 1Clipboard and Cloud Clip Apps vs Local Managers.

SwiftKey Cloud Clipboard is a keyboard product, not a Windows manager. SwiftKey / Gboard Cloud Clipboard on Windows.

Phone Link is Microsoft’s phone-PC pipe. Phone Link Clipboard Access: Privacy Checklist.

LAN sync is not “no cloud”

Copying history across two PCs on a home LAN using the app’s own protocol avoids Microsoft’s clipboard service. It still:

• Puts copies on a second endpoint.
• Traverses a network that guests may share.
• Needs authentication the vendor actually implemented.

For a journalist or a clinic, LAN sync is usually still “off.” For a personal desktop-plus-laptop on a trusted home net, it can be acceptable if the user can explain the path. When Cloud Clipboard Sync Is Actually Fine is about Microsoft’s toggle; the same honesty applies here.

Comparison snapshot

A conservative install sequence

1. Disable Windows device sync.
2. Install one manager from its official releases page.
3. Set a retention limit or timer. Unlimited history is a choice, not a virtue. The Case Against Unlimited Text History.
4. Add password-manager windows to an exclusion list.
5. Copy a unique string; confirm it appears only in that app and not on a second PC.
6. Copy a KeePass password with KeePass’s default history-exclusion on; confirm the manager skips it.

Privacy Settings Checklist for Any Clipboard Manager.

Related reading

• Should Journalists Keep a Clipboard History?
• Student Lab PCs and Leftover Clipboard Data
• Does Windows Clipboard Sync Upload What You Copy?
• Why You Cannot Drag Old Clipboard Files Into Explorer

Sources

• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — Windows history versus optional text sync.
• Ditto project and Ditto site — local database clipboard extension.
• CopyQ documentation and CopyQ security — local app plus documented ignore formats.
• Clipboard formats (Microsoft Learn) — the OS contract local apps should honor.
• How to use clipboard history in Windows 11 (Microsoft) — official device-sync labels so they are not confused with these apps.

Copy. 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