Apple is developing cross-device copy and paste that will let iPhones share clipboard content with Windows PCs, following a Microsoft request submitted through Apple’s EU interoperability request system established to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Apple began evaluating Microsoft’s request in March and on June 26 proposed a project plan to implement the feature.
Microsoft said the capability would allow users to copy text or other supported content on an iPhone and paste it directly on a Windows PC and vice versa, perform common productivity workflows without repeatedly foregrounding an app, and experience clipboard synchronization as a lightweight, continuous capability rather than a manual, app-driven operation.
How iPhone-to-Windows copy and paste will work
Apple proposed a solution that would let an iPhone share and import items from its pasteboard to a paired accessory such as a Windows PC, using an approach similar to the Accessory Notifications option Apple added for third-party wearables in the EU in iOS 26.5. Users would need to grant a paired device a one-time permission to paste content from the iPhone; Apple’s proposal says developers will need to adopt AccessorySetupKit so the user can consent to the necessary permissions allowing the pasteboard to be shared with the accessory.
Currently, an app can only read an iPhone’s clipboard if the app is actively running in the foreground and the user grants clipboard access with each copy/paste action. Apple already offers Universal Clipboard for cross-device copy and paste between iOS and macOS; Microsoft has complained that the clipboard restrictions for apps prevent continuous background synchronization of clipboard content from an iPhone to a PC or other connected device.
Timeline, rollout and regional limits
Apple describes the change as a significant engineering effort, with work expected to be complete by fall 2027; the company plans to ship the feature first in a developer beta for testing, ahead of a public release. If the feature is finished toward the end of fall 2027, the public rollout could arrive in early 2028. Apple says the capability is likely to be limited initially to iPhone and Windows users in the European Union, although the company could choose to implement it worldwide.
Apple has previously rolled some functions required under the DMA out to all countries — for example, eSIM transfers from iPhone to Android and simpler data transfers when switching between Android and iPhones — while other DMA-driven features, such as AirPods-style pairing and notification forwarding for third-party wearables, have only been released within the EU.
