You can copy and paste text, images, and files on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but you can do the same across different Apple devices thanks to the built-in Universal Clipboard. Sure, you can always use AirDrop or iCloud to sync and deliver items between Mac and iOS devices, but the Universal Clipboard can copy and paste content those other features may not be able to handle.

For example, you can copy a link to a web page on an iPhone and paste it into Safari on your iPad. An image on your iPad can be pasted into an app on your Mac. If you have text on a Mac, you can copy and paste it into an email on your phone. Entire files can even be copied from one device to another.

These tricks are possible due to the continuity feature called Handoff, which helps your iPhone, iPad, and Mac talk to each other. To make this work, you have to enable certain options across all devices. After that, you can paste the same copied item as many times as you want, and it works as smoothly and effectively across devices as it does natively on one device.

Just remember that the clipboard can hold only one item at a time, which means if you copy something else, regardless of the device, the new selection will replace the previous one in the clipboard. Also keep in mind that copied content is available only for a short amount of time, so don’t wait too long to paste it.

System Requirements 

First, let’s establish the ground rules over which devices and operating systems are required for the Universal Clipboard to work. On the software end, your Mac must run OS X Sierra or later, while your iPhone and iPad must have iOS 10 or higher. Your Mac or iOS/iPadOS device must be one of the following models:

Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 

Each device must be signed into iCloud with the same Apple ID and must have both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on. On a Mac, you can see if these are enabled by checking their icons on the status menu in the right-hand corner of the screen. Alternatively, open System Preferences > Network > Bluetooth PAN to confirm that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned on, respectively.

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