How to copy and paste between an iPhone and a Windows PC

Copy on iPhone, paste on Windows

1. Get the app on your phone. Install UniClip from Google Play or the App Store and sign in with Google or Apple.
2. Link the computer. Open the web app in any browser, then in the phone app go to Settings, Linked devices, Link a computer and scan the QR code it shows. Nothing to install, no password to type.
3. Send the text from the iPhone or iPad. Select it in any app, tap Share, and choose Universal Clipboard.
4. Copy it on the computer. The clip shows up in the web app. Click it to copy, then paste it where you need it.

It goes over the internet, so the iPhone and the PC don’t need to be near each other or on the same Wi-Fi. Paste on the PC with Ctrl + V.

Copy on Windows, paste on iPhone

1. Send from the computer. Paste or type into the web app’s box and press Send. The clip is on your phone a moment later.
2. Tap it on the other device. Open the app there and tap the clip. It is on that device’s clipboard, ready to paste. On Pro, a notification with Copy Now does it without opening the app.

With the Chrome extension, you can also select text on any page and right-click Copy to Universal Clipboard, or press Alt + C. On Free, clips of up to 200 characters reach all your devices and disappear after 1 minute. Pro keeps every clip until you delete it, in a searchable history on every device.

What Windows and the iPhone offer on their own

Phone Link connects an iPhone running iOS 16 or later to a Windows 10 or 11 PC over Bluetooth, for calls, text messages and notifications. Its cross-device copy and paste is for supported Android phones only.

Windows clipboard sync, under Settings, System, Clipboard, reaches other Windows PCs and Android phones that use Microsoft SwiftKey, not an iPhone. Apple’s Universal Clipboard needs every device on the same Apple Account, so a Windows PC can’t join, and iCloud for Windows doesn’t include it.

This may change. After an interoperability request from Microsoft in the European Union, Apple agreed to build a way for a paired PC to share the iPhone’s clipboard, and plans to complete development by fall 2027, 9to5Mac reported in August 2026. Nothing of it is available today.

Other ways, and where they fall short

• Message or email yourself. Works anywhere, but on the other device you have to find the message, select the text and copy it again, and the chat fills up with old links and codes.
• Chrome’s Send to your devices. Opens the page you are on in Chrome on your other device, when both are signed in to the same Google Account. It sends pages, not text you copied.
• KDE Connect. Free and open source, for devices on the same network. iOS doesn’t let it read the clipboard in the background, so on the iPhone you send the clipboard by hand from the app.

Questions

Does Phone Link copy and paste between an iPhone and Windows?

No. With an iPhone, Phone Link handles calls, text messages and notifications. Its cross-device copy and paste works with supported Android phones only.

Does iCloud for Windows share the iPhone clipboard?

No. iCloud for Windows doesn’t include Universal Clipboard, which only works between Apple devices signed in to the same Apple Account.

Do the iPhone and the PC need to be on the same Wi-Fi?

Not with UniClip. Clips go over the internet, so the PC at work gets what you sent from the iPhone on mobile data.

Can I send photos and files from an iPhone to a Windows PC?

Yes: photos and files of up to 1 MB each, one at a time, on Free, and up to 10 MB each (2 GB in all), 10 at a time, with Pro — from the paperclip, the share sheet or by pasting.