Skip to main content
The Clipboard service provides access to the system clipboard, allowing you to read and write text, images, and file references.

​
Usage

Add the Clipboard service to your page overlay and use its methods to interact with the clipboard: 
import flet as ft

async def main(page: ft.Page):
    clipboard = ft.Clipboard()
    page.overlay.append(clipboard)
    
    # Copy text to clipboard
    await clipboard.set("Hello, World!")
    
    # Read text from clipboard
    text = await clipboard.get()
    print(text)  # "Hello, World!"
    
    await page.update_async()

ft.app(main)

​
Methods

​
set()

Stores text data on the clipboard. 
await clipboard.set(value: str) -> None
​
value
str
required
The string data to be stored on the clipboard.
Example: 
await clipboard.set("Copy this text")

​
get()

Retrieves text data from the clipboard. 
await clipboard.get() -> Optional[str]
Returns: The string data retrieved from the clipboard, or None if the clipboard is empty or does not contain string data. Example: 
text = await clipboard.get()
if text:
    print(f"Clipboard contains: {text}")

​
set_image()

Stores image bytes on the clipboard. 
await clipboard.set_image(value: bytes) -> None
​
value
bytes
required
The image data (in bytes) to be stored on the clipboard.
Platform Support: Android, iOS, Web Raises: FletUnsupportedPlatformException if called on desktop platforms. Example: 
with open("image.png", "rb") as f:
    image_bytes = f.read()
    await clipboard.set_image(image_bytes)

​
get_image()

Retrieves image data from the clipboard. 
await clipboard.get_image() -> Optional[bytes]
Returns: The image data retrieved from the clipboard as bytes, or None if the clipboard is empty or does not contain image data. Example: 
image_data = await clipboard.get_image()
if image_data:
    with open("clipboard_image.png", "wb") as f:
        f.write(image_data)

​
set_files()

Stores file references on the clipboard. 
await clipboard.set_files(files: list[str]) -> bool
​
files
list[str]
required
A list of file paths to store on the clipboard.
Returns: True if the operation succeeded, otherwise False. Platform Support: macOS, Windows, Linux Raises: FletUnsupportedPlatformException if called on web or mobile platforms. Example: 
success = await clipboard.set_files([
    "/path/to/file1.txt",
    "/path/to/file2.pdf"
])
if success:
    print("Files copied to clipboard")

​
get_files()

Retrieves file references from the clipboard. 
await clipboard.get_files() -> list[str]
Returns: A list of file references available in the clipboard. On Android these are typically content URIs. Platform Support: Android, macOS, Windows, Linux Raises: FletUnsupportedPlatformException if called on web or iOS platforms. Example: 
files = await clipboard.get_files()
for file_path in files:
    print(f"File in clipboard: {file_path}")

​
Complete Example

import flet as ft

async def main(page: ft.Page):
    page.title = "Clipboard Demo"
    
    clipboard = ft.Clipboard()
    page.overlay.append(clipboard)
    
    text_input = ft.TextField(label="Text to copy", value="Hello, Clipboard!")
    output_text = ft.Text()
    
    async def copy_text(e):
        await clipboard.set(text_input.value)
        output_text.value = "Text copied to clipboard!"
        await page.update_async()
    
    async def paste_text(e):
        text = await clipboard.get()
        if text:
            text_input.value = text
            output_text.value = f"Pasted: {text}"
        else:
            output_text.value = "Clipboard is empty"
        await page.update_async()
    
    page.add(
        text_input,
        ft.Row([
            ft.ElevatedButton("Copy", on_click=copy_text),
            ft.ElevatedButton("Paste", on_click=paste_text),
        ]),
        output_text,
    )

ft.app(main)

​
Platform Availability

MethodAndroidiOSmacOSWindowsLinuxWeb
set()✓✓✓✓✓✓
get()✓✓✓✓✓✓
set_image()✓✓✗✗✗✓
get_image()✓✓✓✓✓✓
set_files()✗✗✓✓✓✗
get_files()✓✗✓✓✓✗

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us