What to do if Universal Clipboard stops working

Photo by Luba Ertel on Unsplash

Photo by Luba Ertel on Unsplash

 Universal Clipboard is an outstanding Continuity feature that makes it much easier to use Mac, iPad, and iPhone together. It lets you copy and paste items between all your devices, but sometimes it fails. Here’s what to do if Universal Clipboard stops working.

Which Apple products support Universal Clipboard?

First you should check if your devices support the feature, so ensure they meet the following criteria:

• Most Macs made since 2012, including iMac Pro
• MacBook 2015 or later
• Mac Pro 2013 or later
• iPhone 5 or later
• iPad Pro (all models)
• iPad (4^th generation or later
• iPad Air
• iPad mini 2 or later
• iPod touch (6^th generation) or later

They should be running iOS 10 or macOS Sierra or later.

Also read: How to enable Fast User Switching in Control Center & Menu Bar

If your devices should support Universal Clipboard, now is a good time to update them to the latest version of the OS, as this may help resolve your problem.

What settings are required for Universal Clipboard?

You should also ensure your devices are within Bluetooth range (as a guide say 10-feet, but it should reach a little further) and that they are all signed into the same Apple ID. You can check this as follows:

On a Mac: Open System Preferences>Apple ID and check there.

On iOS: Open Settings>[Your name] and check there.

You should also make sure Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Handoff are enabled on all your devices. The Handoff check box is in System Preferences>General on your Mac or in Settings>General>AirPlay & Handoff on your iPhone or iPad.

What to do if Universal Clipboard stops working

Here’s what to do if Universal Clipboard suddenly stops working.

1. Turn it off and switch it on again.

Just turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, wait 30-seconds and then turn them on again on your devices. You may want to enable Bluetooth Sharing in System Preferences>Sharing check the Bluetooth sharing box on your Mac.

2. Turn them off and on again

When things don’t work like you expect, just switch them off and turn them on again. Sometimes it’s all it takes.

3. Off with the Handoff

Still not working? Switch Handoff off on each device, wait 30-seconds and turn it on again.

4. Get outta iCloud

Sign out of iCloud on your devices and sign in again.

On iPhone: Open Settings>your name>Sign Out, enter your Apple ID and password, tap Turn off, Sign out, restart your device and then sign into the same Apple ID.

On Mac: System Preferences>Apple ID>Overview>Sign Out, restart your Mac and then sign in with your Apple ID again.

5. Reset Bluetooth settings

On your iPhone you may get things working again if you Reset Network Settings, but there is a catch as you’ll need to re-enter any passwords for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and VPN. To reset these settings open Settings>Genera>Reset>Reset Network Settings. You’ll need to re-enter your various passwords and pair any Bluetooth devices once the process completes.

On your Mac. First turn off Bluetooth in the menu bar. Still in the Menu bar hold down Option and tap Go, then select Library from the dropdown list. In the Finder window that appears find the Preferences folder, now do as follows:

• • In the search box type Bluetooth and click Preferences.
  • Select all the files you see in that search and move them to Trash.
  • Empty Trash.

You may need to reconnect your wireless devices, but you may also find Universal Clipboard now works.

Want more tips? Here’s a useful AirPrint troubleshooting piece.

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