Apple plans iPhone-to-Windows copy and paste

Apple is planning to let iPhone users copy and paste content directly to Windows PCs, responding to an interoperability request from Microsoft under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Microsoft submitted its request through Apple’s EU interoperability system on March 25, 2026, according to 9to5Mac. The company said iPhone users should be able to copy text or other supported content and paste it on a Windows PC, and do the reverse, without repeatedly opening an app or manually initiating each transfer.

“Cross-device copy and paste is a foundational productivity interaction that users expect to 'just work' across their primary devices.”

How iPhone-to-Windows clipboard sharing will work

Apple’s proposed design would allow an extension to share and import pasteboard items with a paired accessory, such as a Windows PC. When something is copied on an iPhone, the system would notify the extension, which could then transfer the clipboard contents using Apple’s Accessory Transport Extension framework and available connection methods.

Users would need to approve clipboard sharing once for each paired device. Microsoft would use AccessorySetupKit to obtain that consent. The approach follows patterns Apple introduced for third-party wearables through Accessory Notifications and Accessory Live Activities in iOS 26.5.

The change would address a major limitation in current iPhone clipboard access: apps can read the clipboard only while running in the foreground, with the user granting access during each copy-and-paste action. Apple’s own Universal Clipboard already supports cross-device copying between iPhones and Macs, but the same continuous background synchronization has not been available to Windows PCs.

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EU launch likely, but timing is distant

Apple said the project represents a “significant engineering effort.” It expects to finish development by fall 2027, followed by a developer beta and then a public release. MacRumors reported that a public rollout late in fall 2027 could put general availability in early 2028. 9to5Mac said the feature could arrive as part of iOS 28, although Apple has not confirmed the software version.

The feature will likely be limited to iPhone and Windows users in the European Union, where Apple is required to respond to DMA interoperability requests. Apple could still release it worldwide, as it has done with some DMA-related changes, including eSIM transfers from iPhone to Android and simpler device-to-device data transfers. Other features, such as third-party wearable notification forwarding, have remained EU-only.

Apple initially warned that it might reject the request if interoperability threatened iOS integrity or conflicted with its intellectual property rights. It moved the request to the next phase on April 27 and confirmed the development plan on June 26.

The proposal is a meaningful expansion of iPhone connectivity for Windows users, but it is not an immediate alternative to Apple’s Mac-focused Universal Clipboard. The key practical facts are the one-time per-device permission model and a public release that may not arrive until 2028.