How to find and delete clipboard files in Android

[PoliticalSeason]

I have a Note 9. Running the latest Android update available, but this issue predates the upgrade. I have some text saved to the clipboard in secure folder and which I locked. It is currently visible in the clipboard list outside of secure folder and I cannot unlock it so that it can be deleted. The unlock option is visible but greyed out and cannot be selected.

I cannot see the clipboard item when in secure folder, only outside of it.

So, I'd like to find where the clipboard files are stored in Android and just delete them altogether. How do I find them?

 

[ocnbrze]

you can't unless you root the phone. as far as i know it is somewhere on the os system files with no real way to alter the folder

here this might help:
https://www.lifewire.com/using-the-clipboard-on-android-phones-4766586

 

[PoliticalSeason]

you can't unless you root the phone. as far as i know it is somewhere on the os system files with no real way to alter the folder

Oh I really hope that's not what is required.

 

[ocnbrze]

you can clear the clipboard. usually as soon as you copy something to the clipboard, the previous one gets deleted. though i'm not sure on encrypted files however. not very familiar with the process tbh with you. how did you save the text messages? are you sure it was to the clipboard?

 

[PoliticalSeason]

you can clear the clipboard. usually as soon as you copy something to the clipboard, the previous one gets deleted. though i'm not sure on encrypted files however. not very familiar with the process tbh with you. how did you save the text messages? are you sure it was to the clipboard?

You can clear the clipboard unless you lock an item so that it won't clear. the problem for me is that this item was locked and has now become unlockable. I can long press it and get the "unlock from clipboard" opton, but its greyed out and cannot be selected. If I cannot unlock it, I can't clear it from the clipboard. If this data is really locked up in system files and requires rooting the phone, my only option would be to reset the phone. This info has to come out of this clipboard. Wiping the phone is a semi pain in the ass, but its what I'll do if there is no other way to get at this bit of data to kill it.

 

[puppykickr]

I have never heard of something being 'locked' into the system clipboard.
Are you positive that there is not a clipboard app that you are using instead?
As mentioned above, the system clipboard is a 'one and done' affair, with each new entry deleting and covering the last one.

The ideas of multiple items and a locking feature make me think that a clipboard app is being used instead of the system one.

Anyway, I do know of an app that will allow viewing and clearing of the system clipboard.
But this probably will not work if a clipboard app is being used.
On the bright side, if it is an app and not the system clipboard, then you can simply delete the cache and data from that app, and it should be reset to default and now be 'empty'.

ClipboardCleaner (Check and clean your clipboard) - https://f-droid.org/app/io.github.deweyreed.clipboardcleaner

 

[PoliticalSeason]

I have never heard of something being 'locked' into the system clipboard.
Are you positive that there is not a clipboard app that you are using instead?
As mentioned above, the system clipboard is a 'one and done' affair, with each new entry deleting and covering the last one.

The ideas of multiple items and a locking feature make me think that a clipboard app is being used instead of the system one.

So, my understanding is that on a Samsung device you can manage the clipboard in this way. I'm not running any other clipboard app. It's a feature of a Samsung phone and the problem here is that if clipboard data is stored in RAM, there is just no way to get at it.

The thing that is driving me crazy is that this item behaves like something I locked to the clipboard while in secure folder, meaning, it's visible outside of secure folder (because I selected the setting for that to be the case) but it cannot be locked or unlocked outside of secure folder. However, when I'm inside secure folder, I don't see this item saved to the clipboard. I'm at a loss for how I created this problem.

 

[puppykickr]

So, my understanding is that on a Samsung device you can manage the clipboard in this way. I'm not running any other clipboard app. It's a feature of a Samsung phone and the problem here is that if clipboard data is stored in RAM, there is just no way to get at it.

The thing that is driving me crazy is that this item behaves like something I locked to the clipboard while in secure folder, meaning, it's visible outside of secure folder (because I selected the setting for that to be the case) but it cannot be locked or unlocked outside of secure folder. However, when I'm inside secure folder, I don't see this item saved to the clipboard. I'm at a loss for how I created this problem.

Uggh.
Yeah, definitely sounds like a Samsung issue.
It is things like this that keep me far away from them.

Did you try the clipboard cleanng app I suggested?
Just interested to see what, if anything, it would do.

 

[PoliticalSeason]

Uggh.
Yeah, definitely sounds like a Samsung issue.
It is things like this that keep me far away from them.

Did you try the clipboard cleanng app I suggested?
Just interested to see what, if anything, it would do.

I did try it. it did not allow me to access items on the clipboard in any way different than I already could, and the problem with the unlock item from clipboard option being greyed out and not available was the same. There may be no way to fix this than to reset the device. which I presume nukes everything, including the contents of the secure folder.

 

[puppykickr]

This is correct (I presume that the locked file will also get trashed).

I have never reset a device yet, having always been able to figure out some sort of remedy.

There are folks here that do it routinely in a position such as yours.

What I can tell you is to back up everything on the device first.

When you put your apps back onto the device, I believe that the data will be gone.

I am not sure if there is a way to save such items.

Personally, if I ever needed to actually do a total reset, I would ask some of the guys/gals here that do it often enough to know so much more about it than me.

Can you find a clipboard app within the app information page inside app settings?

It would be in the system apps.

If you could find that, and then delete all data from it, that may solve the issue.