Clipboard History and the Vault

Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft introduced the ability to save multiple items to the Clipboard with Clipboard history (WIN + V). I have noticed that the copy username and password respectively do not function properly with this feature.

For instance, if I push both copy username and password, Clipboard history will not show either when opening it, but the last item copied will still exist in the Clipboard.

What’s nice about Clipboard history is that I can easily delete everything by holding down the Delete key. Because Bitwarden doesn’t play well with this feature, I have to manually clear the Clipboard when using the copy and paste features within my vault (System > Settings > Clipboard > Clear clipboard data).

Is the interoperability with this feature intentional? As mentioned, Bitwarden doesn’t disable Clipboard history when using the copy and paste buttons from within the vault. The Clipboard items are invisible, but the last item copied is still pasteable.

I understand this is ostensibly a security feature, but before Clipboard history was introduced, I never even thought to clear my Clipboard. I now clear my Clipboard dozens of times per day when handling sensitive information. Apart from adding copy and paste from the command line, Clipboard history is simultaneously one of the best security, accessibility, and convenience features Microsoft has introduced to the Windows operating system in the last twenty years. It is extremely useful!

For security, I only use Clipboard history locally. I have never used the cloud option.

In the desktop app, you can also drag-and-drop from the vault to your windows app. The trick is to drag the “Username” or “Password” title that appears on a vault entry. Clicking on the value itself does not do it.

The beauty of drag-and-drop is that it never enters the clipboard, so your old clipboard data remains current and you don’t expose your password to clipboard-monitoring apps.

So, I should keep the desktop application in the foreground, and drop the username and password into their respective fields? Does the desktop application support Always On Top?

Yes, I drag-and-drop each field onto the respective fields, much like one would copy/paste, but fewer keystrokes and it does not harm the clipboard contents. One can also drag-and-drop from the other fields (website, notes, etc).

On the windows menu, there is an always-on-top selection, but I don’t use it that way. Instead, I keep it minimized to the tray and bring it up when I need it.

Drag-and-drop didn’t work. I tried using drag-and-drop for my Origin/EA account (desktop app), and I kept getting the restricted icon when I would try to drop the username and password into their respective fields.