Password managers are the ideal way to store and manage your passwords and other confidential information, but there is a setting you should change in every password manager.

When you copy a username or password, it is stored on the clipboard so that you can paste it when you log into a website, but even after you paste the copied information it will remain on the clipboard until it is cleared, some password managers have no time limit for when the information is deleted. It can potentially sit on the clipboard indefinitely. This poses a security risk. The copied data is accessible to all other apps on your phone or computer or even remote devices, if you have cloud clipboard features enabled.

Most reputable password managers have a setting that clears the clipboard after a set amount of time, depending on the password manager you are using, this setting may be turned off by default or the time it takes to clear the information may be longer than necessary.

Log into your password manager and open the settings or options menu. Look for the security section and then find the “clipboard auto clear time” or something with similar wording. Adjust the setting so that it clears the clipboard after a short period of time.

But even after adjusting the password manager settings there is a problem if you have Windows clipboard history turned on. In older versions of Windows when you copied something to the clipboard it was replaced when you copied something new, Windows now has clipboard history and when enabled the clipboard will hold the most recent data you have copied. While this may be convenient it is not secure. To view the contents of the clipboard press Win+V on your keyboard. If clipboard history is enabled the last 25 items you copied will be stored there. After saving 25 items, the oldest items will be removed as new ones are added.

To disable clipboard history, open the settings menu > system > clipboard. Use the slider to turn clipboard history off. From the same menu you can clear the clipboard history.