HomeWinBuzzer NewsMicrosoft Edge Pickle Clipboard APIs Bring Copy and Paste to All File...

Microsoft Edge Pickle Clipboard APIs Bring Copy and Paste to All File Formats

Microsoft Edge and Chrome will soon use Pickle Clipboard APIs to bring wider support for custom file formats across platforms.

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While 's update touches most bases on the Windows platform, there has been surprisingly little buzz around . However, Microsoft does have plans for its web browser on Windows 11, and indeed . One such change will “Pickle Clipboard APIs”, which are being developed alongside .

This would allow browsers like Microsoft Edge and to have an improved clipboard experience. Users will be able to more efficiently copy and paste. More importantly, they will also be able to copy and paste more extensive and complicated file types across web browser and applications.

According to Windows Latest, current web applications and sites do not have complete access to the browser clipboard on Edge or Chrome. That's because the browsers only support standard file formats like HTML, png, .txt, and jpg.

Chrome and Edge do not extend to other more specific formats such as non-web formats and proprietary formats. This is a question of limitations within the API, so Microsoft and Google are working on a new API to address this issue.

Pickle Clipboards

Known as Pickle Clipboard APIs, the new system will all apps to create file formats in a pickling format, provided developers implement the API. In basic terms, it means users will be able to copy and paste complete custom formats on Windows, Mac, and any other platform that has Edge or Chrome.

It is worth noting the OS clipboard handles the copy/paste and not the browser. This allows for developers to create their own custom formats that are more secure. It also means that Microsoft and Chrome can continue to use the current Async Clipboard API and build on top of it.

“These changes will be used in [Pickle Clipboard API project] to support custom format write operations,” Microsoft engineers says in documents for the API.

Tip of the day: Do you sometimes face issues with Windows 10 search where it doesn't find files or return results? Check our tutorial to see how to fix Windows 10 search via various methods.

Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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