To clear the clipboard in Excel, go to the Home tab, click the small launcher arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Clipboard group, and click Clear All at the top of the Clipboard pane. This empties the Office Clipboard, which holds the items you’ve copied or cut.
This guide covers clearing everything, deleting single items, the “Clipboard is full” error, Clipboard options, and how the Office Clipboard differs from Windows clipboard history. The steps come from Microsoft’s Clear the Clipboard, Copy and paste using the Office Clipboard, and Use the Office Clipboard articles.
How to Clear the Clipboard in Excel
- Open Excel and click the Home tab.
- In the Clipboard group, click the dialog box launcher (the small arrow in the bottom-right corner). The Clipboard pane opens on the left side of the sheet.
- Click Clear All.
- Click the X to close the pane.
Every item is removed from the Office Clipboard. Microsoft says clearing it fixes the error that says your Clipboard is full.
Open the Clipboard pane from the keyboard
There’s no single shortcut that clears the clipboard, but you can open the pane quickly. Press Alt, then H, F, and O in sequence.
How to Delete Just One Item
- Open the Clipboard pane.
- Hover over the item and click the arrow to its right, or right-click the item.
- Choose Delete.
Only that item is removed; the rest stay available to paste.
How the Office Clipboard Works
- Up to 24 items: Microsoft says the Office Clipboard holds up to 24 items. Copying a 25th removes the oldest.
- Newest on top: each copied item appears at the top of the pane, with an icon showing which program it came from.
- Paste anywhere in Office: select the destination cell first, then double-click an item to paste it, or click Paste All. Microsoft says you can paste collected items into any Office program. Clear All empties this list but does not delete the source cells.
Change When the Clipboard Pane Appears
Click Options at the bottom of the Clipboard pane. Microsoft lists these settings:
- Show Office Clipboard Automatically: opens the pane when you copy more than one item.
- Show Office Clipboard When CTRL+C Pressed Twice: opens it when you press Ctrl + C twice.
- Collect Without Showing Office Clipboard: keeps collecting items without opening the pane.
- Show Office Clipboard Icon on Taskbar and Show Status Near Taskbar When Copying: both on by default.
If the pane keeps popping up, turn off Show Office Clipboard Automatically.
Office Clipboard vs. Windows Clipboard History
The Office Clipboard is separate from Windows clipboard history. Clearing one doesn’t clear the other. To clear Windows’ list too, see how to clear the clipboard in Windows 11.
Troubleshooting
- “Clipboard is full” error: open the pane and click Clear All, as Microsoft describes.
- Items reappear after clearing: Collect Without Showing Office Clipboard may be on, so new copies keep being added.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does closing Excel clear the clipboard?
Don’t count on it. Microsoft’s documented way to empty the Office Clipboard is Clear All in the Clipboard pane. Its help pages don’t say that closing Excel clears it, so click Clear All before you close Excel if you want the items gone.
Is there a clipboard in Excel for Mac?
Excel for Mac supports ordinary Copy and Paste, but Microsoft’s Mac instructions say you cannot view or clear the clipboard using the Windows Office Clipboard pane. The Windows pane steps above should not be applied to the Mac app.
More Excel Guides
- How to delete data but keep formatting in Excel
- How to copy a Word table into Excel
- How to remove duplicates in Excel
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
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