Edge Drop icon

Edge Drop

Edge Drop is a free, open-source Windows clipboard manager that keeps copied text, images, links, screenshots, and files as cards on the edge of your screen. It helps Windows 10 and 11 users move content into apps with native drag-and-drop while keeping data local on their machine.

Edge Drop

Overview

Edge Drop is a free, open-source clipboard manager for Windows 10 and 11. It turns clipboard history into a shelf that sits on the edge of the screen, so copied text, images, links, screenshots, and files stay available as cards instead of disappearing after the next copy.

The product is built around fast, native drag-and-drop workflows. You can open the shelf by hovering the screen edge, pin and merge items, expand stacks, and drop content directly into apps like Word, Photoshop, Slack, and Explorer without copying again.

Edge Drop is designed to work locally on your computer. The site says there is no account, no cloud sync, and no telemetry, and that clipboard data is encrypted at rest on the machine where it was copied.

Core features

Edge-based access

Move your cursor to the left or right edge of the screen to open the clipboard shelf, then slide it away when you're done. An optional Alt+C shortcut is available and can be remapped in Settings.

Automatic clipboard history

Copies are captured automatically as cards, including text snippets, links, images, screenshots, and files. The shelf turns recent clipboard activity into a visible list instead of a single overwritten item.

Native drag-and-drop output

Drag items directly from the shelf into supported desktop apps with native OS-level drag-and-drop. The site specifically mentions Photoshop, Word, Slack, and Explorer, using native OLE file handles.

Stacking and splitting

Multiple copied items are grouped into stacks of up to ten, which you can expand to inspect. You can also split a file out of a stack by dragging it back to the screen edge.

Card merging and clearing

Clean up clipboard clutter by dragging one card onto another to merge them into a single item. The product also includes a dedicated Clear button for removing saved data from the panel.

Local-first privacy

The app stores everything locally on your machine, with no account, cloud sync, or telemetry. The privacy page says clipboard history is encrypted at rest on your own machine and the app runs offline.

Common use cases

  • Managing multi-step copy work

    Keep several copied items available at once when you are comparing snippets, gathering research, or moving through a copy-and-paste sequence. The stack model reduces the need to keep recopying the same source material.

  • Dropping content into desktop apps

    Move text, images, or files from the shelf into desktop applications like Word, Photoshop, Slack, or Explorer using native drag-and-drop. This is useful when the destination app accepts dropped content more naturally than pasted clipboard items.

  • Organizing grouped clipboard items

    Collect repeated copies into stacks, then expand a stack to inspect what is inside or split one file back out when you need it separately. That makes the product useful when several nearby clipboard items belong to one task.

  • Keeping clipboard data on-device

    Use the local-only storage model when you want clipboard history to stay on the machine and not be tied to an account or cloud service. The privacy page says the app works offline and keeps data on your computer only.

  • Removing sensitive copies from history

    Clear sensitive content from the panel after use when you do not want it to remain in history. The privacy page notes that the app tries to ignore some sensitive clipboard flags and provides a Clear button for cleanup.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Free and open source under Apache-2.0, with no pricing page or paid plan shown on the site.
  • Captures more than plain text, including images, screenshots, links, and files.
  • Supports direct drag-and-drop into desktop apps using native OS-level behavior.
  • Uses a shelf and stack model that makes multiple copied items easier to browse than the standard one-item clipboard.
  • Operates locally with no account, cloud sync, or telemetry, which keeps clipboard data on the device.

Cons

  • The source only confirms Windows 10 and 11 support, so it is not positioned as a cross-platform clipboard manager.
  • The public pages do not provide a full compatibility matrix, so app-by-app behavior outside the named examples is unclear.
  • The product is intentionally local-first, so there is no cloud sync or account-based sharing model described in the source.

FAQ

How do you open Edge Drop?

Edge Drop is a Windows clipboard manager that appears at the edge of your screen. You open it by hovering at the left or right edge, or by using the optional Alt+C hotkey, and then drag items out to other apps.

What kinds of clipboard items does Edge Drop save?

Edge Drop automatically captures copied text, links, images, screenshots, and files as cards on your shelf. It also supports grouping multiple copies into stacks, merging cards, and splitting items back out of a stack.

Is Edge Drop free?

The source describes Edge Drop as a free, open-source app for Windows 10 and 11. The page does not show a paid plan or pricing details.

Does Edge Drop require an account or cloud sync?

The app is designed to work locally on your machine with no account, cloud sync, or telemetry. The privacy page also says clipboard data stays on your computer and the app operates offline.

Which apps does Edge Drop work with?

The source explicitly mentions native drag-and-drop into apps such as Photoshop, Word, Slack, and Explorer. Beyond those examples, it does not provide a full compatibility list.

Quick Facts

Category
Productivity
Platform
Windows 10 and 11
License
Apache-2.0
Source domain
edgedrop.app
Data handling
Local only; no account, cloud sync, or telemetry
Workflow
Hover edge to open, then drag cards into apps