Clipboard History Pro for schools on Chromebooks
A searchable clipboard history and a text expander for teachers and staff. Deploy it to an organizational unit from the Google Admin console in a few minutes. Clipboard items stay on the device unless a user turns on cloud sync.
Open the printable admin guide Ask about district pricing
Extension ID: ajiejmhbejpdgkkigpddefnjmgcbkenk
Chrome Web Store: Clipboard History Pro
Why not the built-in ChromeOS clipboard?
ChromeOS has a clipboard menu. Press Search + V (or Launcher + V) to open it (Google: Chromebook keyboard shortcuts). It holds your last 5 copies. It has no search. It clears when you sign out or restart.
That is fine for moving one thing from tab to tab. It does not help a teacher who pastes the same 40 feedback comments into 120 essays.
| ChromeOS clipboard menu | Clipboard History Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| How many items | Last 5 | Up to 50,000 text items by default (you can change the limit) |
| Search | No | Yes, across all saved items |
| After a restart | Cleared | Kept in the browser profile* |
| Favorites and tags | No | Yes |
| Text shortcuts (type a keyword, get a full paragraph) | No | Yes. 5 on the free plan, unlimited on Pro |
| Images | Yes | No. Clipboard History Pro saves text only |
What teachers use it for
Feedback comments
Save your common comments once. Star the ones you use most. Search the rest by a word you remember.
Rubric lines
Make a text shortcut such as ;thesis2 for each rubric level. Type the keyword in Google Classroom, Docs or your LMS and the full text appears.
Parent and office emails
Keep the replies you send every week (conference times, late-work policy, supply lists) one keyword away.
Paste your top 3 favorites (Pro)
Press Shift + Alt + 1, 2 or 3 to paste favorites 1 to 3. Change the keys at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.
Text shortcuts work in normal web text fields. Teachers can start in under a minute: copy something, open the extension, click the star.
Deploy it in the Google Admin console
You need an administrator account with rights to manage Chrome apps and extensions. We suggest you start with a staff or teacher organizational unit. Read Students before you deploy to student accounts.
- Sign in to the Google Admin console.
- Go to Menu > Devices > Chrome > Apps & extensions > Users & browsers.
- On the left, select the organizational unit (for example, Staff). To cover everyone, leave the top unit selected. You can also select a group.
- Click Add and choose Add Chrome app or extension by ID. Enter ajiejmhbejpdgkkigpddefnjmgcbkenk and click Save. If your edition does not show the by-ID option, choose Add from Chrome Web Store and search for Clipboard History Pro.
- Click Clipboard History Pro in the list. In the right panel, under Installation policy, choose one:
- Force install + pin to browser toolbar: installs it for everyone in the unit and shows the icon. Best for teachers.
- Force install: installs it without pinning.
- Allow install: users can install it themselves from the Chrome Web Store. Use this if you block other extensions by default.
- Click Save (or Override for a child unit).
- Check one device. Open
chrome://policy, click Reload policies, and confirm that ExtensionSettings shows status OK. Then openchrome://extensionsand look for Clipboard History Pro.
Google's documentation:
- Automatically install apps and extensions
- View and configure apps and extensions
- Allow or block apps and extensions
Google notes that users cannot remove a force-installed extension. To remove it later, set the policy to Block, uninstall from Chrome.
Recommended settings
1. Start with staff
Force-install for teachers and staff first. Get feedback from a few classrooms. Then decide about students.
2. Keep in-page features off sensitive sites
Use Permissions and URL access > Blocked hosts on the extension (or Runtime blocked hosts for all extensions) to list your student information system, gradebook or testing sites. This stops the text expander and page widget from running on those pages. See Prevent Chrome extensions from altering webpages.
Important: a blocked host does not stop clipboard history. The extension reads the system clipboard, so text a user copies on a blocked site can still be saved in that user's local history. Users can turn on blocked domains in the extension's own settings. You cannot set that list from the Admin console today.
3. Decide about cloud sync sign-in
Cloud sync is an optional Pro feature. It is off until a user signs in with a Google account and turns it on. If you do not want school accounts to send clips to our cloud, block the app under Security > Access and data control > API controls > Manage App Access. See Control which apps access Google Workspace data. Block these two OAuth client IDs: 661094747833-u1ek5ftaricnm13om1rdvnldllete4t8.apps.googleusercontent.com and 661094747833-5eo47hboogevkatl5p1rlb9gj8vtt75v.apps.googleusercontent.com. Without sign-in, everything stays on the device.
4. Shared and cart Chromebooks
History is stored in each user's browser profile. When each student or teacher signs in with their own account, nobody sees another person's history. If your devices erase local user data at each sign-out, the history is erased too. Teachers who want to keep their comments across sessions can use cloud sync (Pro), or export a backup from the options page.
5. Auto-delete old items
Each user can tell the extension to delete items older than a set time, or to keep only a set number of items. Pro users can also set a PIN lock. These are user settings. The extension does not read admin-managed settings today.
6. Students
Clipboard History Pro is a general productivity tool. It is not built for children and we do not market it to them. If you plan to deploy it to student accounts, email us first. We will walk you through the student data privacy statement and your district's agreement process. For students under 13, please contact us before you deploy.
Permissions the extension asks for
From the extension's manifest, and why each is needed:
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
clipboardRead, clipboardWrite | Save what you copy and copy an item back. |
offscreen | Read the clipboard in the background (Chrome). |
storage | Keep settings in the browser profile. |
Access to all sites, scripting, activeTab | Run the text expander and paste into text fields on any page. |
contextMenus | Show recent and favorite items in the right-click menu. |
identity | Google sign-in for the optional cloud sync. |
alarms | Run scheduled tasks, such as auto-delete. |
tabs (optional, asked at use) | Record the page an item came from and apply the user's blocked-domains list. |
If your policy blocks clipboard permissions for extensions, the extension cannot work. Allow them for this extension only.
What data stays on the device
- On the device: clipboard items, favorites, tags, titles, text shortcuts and settings. They live in the browser profile. We cannot see them.
- Sent to our cloud only if a user opts in: items a signed-in Pro user syncs or sends to the cloud, plus the Google account name, email and photo used to sign in.
- Sent to analytics: a random install ID and usage events (for example, "popup opened"). No clipboard text, no web addresses, no names or emails.
- Sent in error reports: technical details about the error. These can include an item's title or tags, a search word, or the length of an item. They do not include the full text of clipboard items.
- No ads and no sale of data. The extension shows no third-party ads. It does show prompts to upgrade to Pro.
Full details: Student data privacy statement · Accessibility statement · Privacy Policy
District pricing
The free plan works for most teachers. Pro adds unlimited text shortcuts, cloud sync, PIN lock and more. For school or district licenses, email us with:
- your district or school name,
- the number of staff seats you want,
- whether you need a signed data privacy agreement or a purchase order.
Questions from IT teams
Does it work on managed Chromebooks?
Yes. It is a Manifest V3 Chrome extension and needs Chrome 88 or later. It also runs in Chrome on Windows, macOS and Linux, and in Microsoft Edge.
Does the extension open web pages on its own?
Not on install. When a user uninstalls it, the browser opens a short survey page on clipboardextension.com.
Can we get the data back if a teacher leaves?
Local items are in that teacher's browser profile. They can export a backup from the options page. We do not hold a copy unless they used cloud sync.
Who do we contact?
Email [email protected] for deployment help, security questionnaires and pricing. Privacy questions: [email protected].