A tiny green halo that flashes when you copy from a terminal may sound like a cute UI trick, but it addresses a surprisingly common pain point: not knowing whether what you selected actually made it to the clipboard. Microsoft PowerToys may soon offer exactly that — a proposed module called ClipPing that displays a brief visual overlay (a green halo or border) on the active window when the clipboard is updated — and the work is already live on GitHub as a standalone project and as a pull request into the PowerToys repository.
Windows users who work regularly in command-line environments know the small friction all too well: you select text, press Ctrl+C (or right-click), switch apps, and paste — only to discover the clipboard is empty or still contains the previous content. The built-in Windows Terminal has a global setting, copyOnSelect, which can automatically copy selected text to the clipboard, but it is not enabled by default and does not eliminate every failure mode.
Open-source developer Kevin Gosse created a lightweight utility that reacts to clipboard changes and renders a short-lived visual confirmation over the active window. That project — hosted on GitHub as ClipPing — shows a halo on top of the window or a thin glowing border when the clipboard is modified. The same developer submitted a pull request to add ClipPing as a PowerToys module, including the app and native helper components, and the PR includes the standard packaging, installer, CI, and localization scaffolding required for PowerToys modules.
Clipboard operations can also suffer from platform- and app-specific quirks. The Windows Terminal and other environments have had issues where pastes or copies behave inconsistently under load or when different clipboard APIs are in use, producing intermittent failures that are tough to debug. There are public issues and discussions documenting such edge cases in the Windows Terminal codebase; these real-world reports help explain why users would welcome an unobtrusive, cross-application confirmation mechanism.
The PowerToys pull request includes the necessary packaging changes: installer scripts (WXS), JSON entries for signing, CI pipeline YMLs, a new settings page, and native interop code for the overlay. The PR author included a checklist that mirrors the PowerToys maintainer expectations: localization-ready strings, tests, and signed binaries. Those additions make the PR appear well-formed from a repository-management perspective, but they do not guarantee approval — maintainers will still review for quality, security, accessibility, and compatibility.
Key checkpoints to watch:
If you work frequently in the Windows Terminal — or any environment where clipboard certainty matters — ClipPing is a pragmatic addition to the toolkit. It’s already available to try from the developer’s GitHub repository, and its PowerToys PR shows active work toward integration. For those deploying in managed environments, wait for a finalized PowerToys release with policy controls, or pilot the standalone build with controlled test groups first. (github.com, learn.microsoft.com)
ClipPing may be small, but if it reduces even a little of the friction of copying and pasting across sessions, it will have done exactly what PowerToys has always done best: remove micro-annoyances so users can focus on the work that matters.
Source: windowslatest.com PowerToys to light up Windows 11 Terminal with a green halo on copy, so you know content is copied
Background
Windows users who work regularly in command-line environments know the small friction all too well: you select text, press Ctrl+C (or right-click), switch apps, and paste — only to discover the clipboard is empty or still contains the previous content. The built-in Windows Terminal has a global setting, copyOnSelect, which can automatically copy selected text to the clipboard, but it is not enabled by default and does not eliminate every failure mode. Open-source developer Kevin Gosse created a lightweight utility that reacts to clipboard changes and renders a short-lived visual confirmation over the active window. That project — hosted on GitHub as ClipPing — shows a halo on top of the window or a thin glowing border when the clipboard is modified. The same developer submitted a pull request to add ClipPing as a PowerToys module, including the app and native helper components, and the PR includes the standard packaging, installer, CI, and localization scaffolding required for PowerToys modules.
Why this matters: the ergonomics of clipboard certainty
For most people the clipboard is invisible but central: one wrong paste can cost time, leak credentials, or corrupt data. Developers, sysadmins, and power users often copy multi-line outputs (tokens, IP addresses, long error logs) that are hard to re-generate. When a copy fails — possibly because the target application uses a non-standard clipboard API, because the selection didn’t actually register, or because another application interfered — it’s painful and sometimes costly. That’s precisely the gap ClipPing aims to bridge: positive, non-modal, contextual feedback that the OS-level clipboard content changed. The idea is deliberately minimal — a visual cue rather than a notification box — to avoid disrupting workflow. (windowslatest.com, learn.microsoft.com)Clipboard operations can also suffer from platform- and app-specific quirks. The Windows Terminal and other environments have had issues where pastes or copies behave inconsistently under load or when different clipboard APIs are in use, producing intermittent failures that are tough to debug. There are public issues and discussions documenting such edge cases in the Windows Terminal codebase; these real-world reports help explain why users would welcome an unobtrusive, cross-application confirmation mechanism.
What ClipPing is and how it works
Core behavior and UX design
- ClipPing listens for clipboard update events at the OS level.
- When it detects a change, it renders a short, animated overlay tied to the active window — typically a green halo at the top or a thin green border around the window.
- The overlay is ephemeral (a fraction of a second to a couple of seconds) so it confirms the action without blocking interaction or requiring dismissal.
- ClipPing ships as a lightweight tray application; the repository notes it’s written in C# targeting .NET 9, and the developer lists Windows 10 version 1607 as the minimum supported platform for the standalone tool.
Installation and distribution status
- ClipPing is available now as a standalone open-source utility on GitHub; binaries and releases exist for those who want to try it immediately.
- A formal request to merge ClipPing as a module into Microsoft PowerToys has been filed (pull request #41003). That PR bundles the app, a native module, settings UI integration, and the usual CI/binary/signing metadata required by PowerToys. The PR shows early checks and the author’s validation steps. Until that PR is accepted and merged, ClipPing remains a community plugin you must manually download or build.
Technical verification: what the code and PR tell us
Confirming specifics matters when reporting software that hooks into the clipboard and window compositing stack. The GitHub repository README explicitly states the app is written for .NET 9 and requires Windows 10 v1607+, and it documents that two overlay styles exist (top halo and border) while noting QoL features such as autostart and customization were not implemented at the time of writing. Those are factual, verifiable implementation details developers and testers should consider before deploying.The PowerToys pull request includes the necessary packaging changes: installer scripts (WXS), JSON entries for signing, CI pipeline YMLs, a new settings page, and native interop code for the overlay. The PR author included a checklist that mirrors the PowerToys maintainer expectations: localization-ready strings, tests, and signed binaries. Those additions make the PR appear well-formed from a repository-management perspective, but they do not guarantee approval — maintainers will still review for quality, security, accessibility, and compatibility.
Strengths: why ClipPing fits PowerToys’ ethos
- Micro-utility focus: PowerToys has long been a playground for small-but-powerful productivity tweaks. ClipPing matches that philosophy: tiny feature, immediate payoff.
- Low cognitive cost: Because the cue is visual and transient, it avoids modal dialogs or persistent UI that would annoy heavy clipboard users. That design reduces friction while still delivering reassurance.
- Cross-application utility: Unlike app-specific copy confirmations, ClipPing hooks the clipboard at the OS level, meaning it can work for any application that cooperates with the system clipboard — including Windows Terminal, browsers, editors, and legacy apps.
- Open-source and auditable: The project’s repository and the PR into PowerToys are public, allowing community review, contributions, and independent security audits before or after merging.
Risks, limitations, and open questions
No feature is without trade-offs. ClipPing raises practical and policy considerations that deserve attention before it is broadly adopted.1. Notification fatigue and frequency control
If you copy frequently (e.g., many times per minute while coding, data-cleansing, or testing), the overlay could become distracting. ClipPing’s current codebase notes limited QoL controls; any widespread rollout should include:- Per-app opt-outs or whitelist/blacklist controls.
- Adjustable display duration or throttling (e.g., “don’t show again for N ms after last show”).
- A global enable/disable hotkey.
2. Accessibility and color choices
Green halos and borders are fine for many users, but not for all. Color-blind users and screen-reader users will need alternatives (e.g., configurable color palettes, sound cues, or magnification-friendly overlays). Accessibility compliance (keyboard accessibility, high-contrast mode support) is a requirement for any feature intending to be included in PowerToys. The PR and repo do not show a finished accessibility plan, so this remains an outstanding item to address.3. Compatibility with games and GPU-accelerated apps
Overlaying a window consistently across diverse compositing techniques (DirectX games, fullscreen video players, GPU-accelerated UI frameworks) can be tricky. PowerToys historically has had modules that clash with certain apps or driver states, and a new overlay that sits above other windows must be stress-tested across hardware and app categories to avoid flicker, dropped frames, or crashes. The PR includes native components and installer tweaks, but broad compatibility testing is essential.4. Privacy and enterprise policy concerns
While ClipPing only signals that the clipboard changed and it does not reveal content, enterprise environments treat clipboard hooks warily because clipboard content often contains secrets. IT administrators may require group-policy controls or ADMX templates to disable or manage such features centrally. The PowerToys PR scaffolding includes installer and signing steps, but enterprise policy controls are not explicit in the current submission. Organizations that lock down diagnostic data or disable telemetry have, in the past, experienced friction with PowerToys installs; administrators will expect clear policy controls if ClipPing is adopted. (github.com, reddit.com)5. Security review for native code and clipboard hooks
Any module that registers global clipboard listeners and uses native interop requires a security review: ensure no elevation-of-privilege vectors, no unintended data exfiltration, and that binary signing is enforced for distributed modules. The PR author added signing and installer metadata, which is the right first step, but maintainers will want detailed audits before shipping ClipPing within PowerToys.How to evaluate ClipPing today (practical steps)
For sysadmins, developers, or enthusiasts who want to test ClipPing now — before any possible PowerToys merge — here is a concise, actionable sequence.- Download the repository release or clone the GitHub project. The repo currently has prebuilt releases for convenience.
- Confirm system requirements: .NET 9 runtime is required; the README cites Windows 10 (v1607) or later as the minimum supported platform for the current build.
- Run the app from the tray; exercise copy/paste across several apps: Windows Terminal, Notepad, your browser, and an image editor. Observe whether the overlay appears reliably and whether it introduces graphical artifacts.
- If you rely on accessibility tools, test ClipPing with your screen reader and high-contrast color schemes; if ClipPing lacks accessible alternatives, file an issue or contribute a patch.
- Optionally, build from source and instrument the code to log events for diagnosis — useful for developers who want to confirm event ordering between clipboard updates and overlay rendering.
How ClipPing compares to other clipboard solutions
ClipPing is intentionally narrow: it confirms that the clipboard changed. By contrast, clipboard manager apps focus on history, search, and multi-format persistence. Typical alternatives include apps that:- Store a chronological history of clipboard items and provide a UI to browse and paste.
- Offer "pinned" clipboard entries, templates, or advanced paste transformations (e.g., plain-text conversion, markdown conversion).
- Add keyboard-driven paste switches and multi-format previews.
What to watch next: the PR and roadmap signals
The PowerToys pull request submitted by the developer includes two commits, a new settings UI, native interop code, and the packaging assets maintainers expect. The PR’s checklist references localization, tests, and signed binaries — all signals that the author intends a production-grade module. But PR acceptance is not automatic: PowerToys maintainers will review for quality, accessibility, security, and compatibility before merging. Until the PR is merged and included in an official PowerToys release, users who want ClipPing must use the standalone release on GitHub.Key checkpoints to watch:
- Approval or requested changes in the PowerToys PR conversation.
- Inclusion in a PowerToys release changelog and packaged installer.
- Addition of accessibility and enterprise policy controls (ADMX/GPO) if enterprises request them.
- Community contributions that add customization (color themes, duration control, per-app rules).
Practical considerations for administrators and power users
- For IT administrators: if ClipPing becomes part of PowerToys, plan to evaluate ADMX options or group-policy controls. PowerToys modules have previously required admin workflows and sometimes needed special handling in managed environments. Test a pilot group before broad rollout. (github.com, reddit.com)
- For power users: ClipPing is low-risk to try locally. Validate the .NET runtime version and test with your common workflows (SSH sessions, WSL, elevated terminals). If you use clipboard protection software or enterprise DLP (data loss prevention), confirm compatibility before installing.
- For developers and contributors: the codebase is .NET/C# and already shows a native interop layer in the PR. If you care about accessibility or per-app controls, the earliest and highest-impact contributions would be settings UI options for:
- Toggle overlay per-application,
- Adjust overlay color and duration,
- Enable alternate non-visual signals (sound/haptic) for users with visual impairments.
Final assessment: useful, simple, and deserving of scrutiny
ClipPing solves a narrow but real problem with a small, focused solution: a cross-application visual confirmation that clipboard contents changed. That fits PowerToys’ identity of small ergonomics wins for power users, and the project’s open-source nature and PR into PowerToys show a credible path to inclusion. At the same time, the module needs careful attention on accessibility, enterprise policy, and compatibility testing before it can be recommended for mainstream deployment.If you work frequently in the Windows Terminal — or any environment where clipboard certainty matters — ClipPing is a pragmatic addition to the toolkit. It’s already available to try from the developer’s GitHub repository, and its PowerToys PR shows active work toward integration. For those deploying in managed environments, wait for a finalized PowerToys release with policy controls, or pilot the standalone build with controlled test groups first. (github.com, learn.microsoft.com)
ClipPing may be small, but if it reduces even a little of the friction of copying and pasting across sessions, it will have done exactly what PowerToys has always done best: remove micro-annoyances so users can focus on the work that matters.
Source: windowslatest.com PowerToys to light up Windows 11 Terminal with a green halo on copy, so you know content is copied
