How the online clipboard works
DDash Clipboard is a shared clipboard that lives at a web address instead of inside one device. Anything you paste gets a short code. Anyone, including you on another device, can open that code to see the text. That's the whole idea.
Phone to computer, computer to phone
- Paste. Go to the home page, paste your text, choose how long it should live, and press Save & get code.
- Open. On the other device, open the same site and type the code into Have a code?, or scan the QR code with your phone's camera.
- Copy. Press Copy text. Done. The clip is removed automatically when it expires.
Because it's a normal web page, it works on Android, iPhone, Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebooks, smart TVs and anything else with a browser. There's nothing to install on either side and no account to sign in to.
What happens behind the scenes
When you save, the text is stored on our servers under its code together with an expiry time. When someone opens the code, the server checks that the clip exists and hasn't expired, then renders the page. A scheduled clean-up permanently deletes expired clips from storage. If you tick burn after first read, the link first shows a Reveal clip button, and the clip is deleted the moment someone presses it. Chat-app link previews therefore can't use it up.
The site is built to be fast: pages are generated on the server, weigh only a few kilobytes, use no external scripts or fonts, and are served from Google Cloud with HTTPS and compression.
Codes and links
- Random codes are 6 characters (lowercase letters and numbers) and skip look-alike letters (no 0/O or 1/l), so they're easy to read from another screen.
- Custom codes can be 3 to 40 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens. If a code is in use, you'll be asked to pick another.
- Every clip also has a raw URL (
/code/raw) that returns plain text, handy forcurlor scripts.
Expiry options
| Option | Best for |
|---|---|
| 10 minutes | One-time passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, quick hand-offs |
| 1 hour | Links and snippets during a meeting or call |
| 1 day | Notes you'll pick up later today (default) |
| 7 days | Something you want to reach from several places this week |
Tips
- Use the QR code to go from a computer to a phone: no typing at all.
- Press Ctrl+Enter in the text box to save without reaching for the mouse.
- Keep sensitive text short-lived and use burn-after-read. Never put long-term secrets in any online clipboard.