How to quickly copy from Apple iPhone straight to your iPad, or vice versa

There are so many great tips and tricks built into Apple iPhone and iPad’s software. Some of them are a little more hidden – not necessarily intentionally but they just sit within menus you may not come across that frequently – while others are almost so obvious, they get completely missed.

One of the more hidden ones is the ability to use the back of your iPhone as a shortcut button, while one of the more plain as day ones is closing down all your open Safari tabs at once or scanning a document, for example.

There’s another obvious one (when you know about it anyway) we absolutely love for users with an iPhone and an iPad or Mac though. Did you know you can copy from your iPhone directly to your iPad – or vice versa – with just your fingers or a few taps? Yes, we know, exciting right. It’s called Universal Clipboard officially, but here is how it works.

How to quickly copy from your iPhone to an iPad or Mac

There are a couple of things you need to make sure of before you try this is that both your iPhone and iPad or Mac are linked to the same Apple ID. You’ll also need to make sure all devices are connected to Wi-Fi and they are within Bluetooth range (around 10-meters) of each other.

Handoff needs to be on too (Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff / System Preferences > General) and Bluetooth also needs to be on. Software requirements are iOS 10 and later for iPhone, iPadOS 13 for iPad, and macOS 10.12 or later for Mac.

On your iPhone, iPad, or Mac find what you want to copy. It could be text or a photo for example. Select the text and press copy from the menu, or pinch closed with three fingers on a photo and you’ll see ‘Copy’ appear at the top of your display on iPhone and iPad. If you want to cut something, then pinch closed with three fingers two times.

Once what you are copying is on the clipboard, grab your other device, such as an iPhone or iPad. Either tap once and press ‘Paste’ from the pop up menu. Or pinch three fingers open to paste. If you’ve copied a photo from your iPhone, you could paste it into Notes on your iPad for example, or a new email perhaps.

That’s it, all done. Just remember you need to cut, copy or paste within a short period of time.

For more iPhone tips, head to our separate feature. We also have a specific iPad tips feature to help you get the most out of that device too.