Ctrl + ; brings up the copy history for the last 6 things I've copied. How do I erase the history?

[evolution]

I'm running Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon



Here's a video of what it looks like: https://anonfiles.com/LaNcydh8y7/Clipboard_mp4

I'm confused as to which program is recording this history, or if it's a universal thing for Linux in general.

I've tried searching for that hotkey, and for information on Linux and Linux Mint clipboard history, but all the search results are talking about 3rd party programs. I haven't installed any of these programs...

I want to be able to clear/manage these for privacy reasons (don't want to accidentally hit this hotkey while showing someone my screen, and give them a nice summary of the <violates forum rules> links I've copied

I believe the 2nd entry on the list is whatever I've last highlighted.

[rickNS]

What program are you using when that happens ?

Because when I'm using xed on Cinnamon, and press that key combination Ctrl + ; I get a bunch of smilies. Which I never knew of, so thanks for the thread.

[Termy]

Definitely not universal, because it can be a potential issue for privacy/security. You probably have a clipboard manager installed out of the box. Personally, I erase the clipboard (X clipboard and X selection buffer) with xclip(1) whenever I copy something sensitive, using the following:

Code: Select all

printf '' | xclip -sel c; printf '' | xclip

I'm a terminal user, so it's suitable for me. In your case, you'd probably want to use and configure your clipboard manager accordingly. Check the bottom-right of the screen, where those little icons are. I think that's usually where a clipboard manager is found.

[evolution]

What program are you using when that happens ?

Because when I'm using xed on Cinnamon, and press that key combination Ctrl + ; I get a bunch of smilies. Which I never knew of, so thanks for the thread.

I get that menu in any text field that I've tried so far! Including xed, LibreOffice Writer, and the Firefox search and address fields.

For me, the smiley menu comes up with I press Ctrl + . , weirdly enough...

Definitely not universal, because it can be a potential issue for privacy/security. You probably have a clipboard manager installed out of the box. Personally, I erase the clipboard (X clipboard and X selection buffer) with xclip(1) whenever I copy something sensitive, using the following:

Code: Select all

printf '' | xclip -sel c; printf '' | xclip

I'm a terminal user, so it's suitable for me. In your case, you'd probably want to use and configure your clipboard manager accordingly. Check the bottom-right of the screen, where those little icons are. I think that's usually where a clipboard manager is found.

That's interesting. So does that imply that my copy/paste history is stored in a non-standard location? In Linux, everything is a file, right? I was originally planning to try and search for the location of this clipboard history file, but had no luck. If it's not a native Linux feature, finding the program that causes it will be like trying to find a needle in the haystack!

I already tried

Code: Select all

whereis xclip

and got nothing. And I searched in the Linux Mint Software Manager for clipboard, and I didn't have any of those software installed already. There isn't anything clipboard related among my 'tray icons' in the bottom right: just the calendar, brightness, sound, wireless, notifications, updates, ibus Keyboard switcher, and 3 other apps that I can clearly identify.

Any recommendations for how I can discover the culprit app without having to reinstall Mint?

[Cosmo.]

Clipboard Manager is only a guess in lack of another idea. And xclip is only one of the possible programs of this type.

Usually a clipboard manager places a tray icon. Inspect all tray icons to learn, what they do. There is also the chance, that a tray icon has been disabled. But you should find a starter in the startup section of the system, so inspect that also.

But perhaps it is something else, not a clipboard manager. Create a guest account (in the log in window settings), reboot the computer and log into the guest account and check there. You could also compare the startup section of the system settings in both accounts.

[Termy]

I've loaded up a Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon virtual machine, but I can't find any clipboard manager either. There's no package name with 'clip' in it and nothing in the main menu which has 'clip' in it. That's at least by default. You may have inadvertently installed a clipboard manager, though. It's possibly built into the window manager or something; something Cinnamon-specific, maybe.

There is xclipboard(1), but I'm highly doubtful that's it, because it's a standard tool which comes with the 'x11-apps' package; I have it on my system, but it doesn't do what you're getting, unless it's because I haven't got that set up.

BTW, when I enter Ctrl + Semicolon in XED, I get a pop-up for entering emojis and what-not, but nothing to do with the clipboard. Did you by any chance install a special plugin for XED? I noticed it supports plugins (see Preferences).

[smurphos]

I get that menu in any text field that I've tried so far! Including xed, LibreOffice Writer, and the Firefox search and address fields.

Open a terminal, then invoke the menu you are seeing in some other application and in the terminal run wmctrl -lx - report the output which should give a clue as to the source (as long as the menu remains visible when you transfer focus to the terminal).

[evolution]

Here's an update to what I've found!

The copy history has to do with having Fcitx installed.

I'm not sure how to keep Fcitx installed and not have it save copy history.

[MiZoG]

Open /.config/fcitx/conf/fcitx-clipboard.config or similarly named file
and comment out any option to retain clipboard history.