# Core concepts

These terms show up across the feature guides—spend a minute here first and the rest reads faster.

## Clipboard vs clip

- **Clipboard**: the **system clipboard** on your device.  
- **Clip**: a **transient snapshot**—data read **from the clipboard** in one shot. Captures from other **clip sources** (e.g. screenshots, SMS) still appear as one row in **clip history**, so you can index, sync, and reuse **without** replacing what “system clipboard” means to the OS.

## Clip history

A chronological list of clips you can browse, reuse, or delete. See [Clip History overview](/features/clip-history/overview).

## Clip source

Where a clip’s data came from. Typical sources include **clipboard, screenshots, and SMS**. [Clip Sources overview](/features/source/overview) also covers paths like **Share** and how they interact with monitoring.

## Sync

- **Nearby Sync**: share clips with devices on the **same local network**.  
- **Cloud Sync**: sync clips across your own devices through a **WebDAV / S3** storage path you configure. Clips are **end-to-end encrypted on-device with a key you hold** before upload, so the storage bucket only ever holds ciphertext. An **anonymous notification service** signals "new data ready"—it never carries your content or key.  

See [Sync overview](/features/sync-overview). For your first cross-device copy/paste, follow [Cross-device copy & paste](/getting-started/first-cross-device-paste).

## Pasting into target apps

Putting a clip into the app you are using can hit app or OS limits. If **history shows the clip but paste fails**, see [Cannot paste](/advanced/troubleshooting/cannot-paste).

> [!INFO] Version differences  
> Menus and capabilities can vary slightly by release—follow what you see in your installed app.

## Next steps

:::cards{cols=2}
:::card{title="Features overview" icon="lucide.sparkles" href="/features/overview"}
Chapter hubs and suggested reading order.

:::
:::card{title="Clip History overview" icon="lucide.history" href="/features/clip-history/overview"}
View, search, pin, and clean up clips.

:::
:::card{title="Clip Sources overview" icon="lucide.inbox" href="/features/source/overview"}
How items enter history.

:::
:::card{title="Sync overview" icon="lucide.waypoints" href="/features/sync-overview"}
Nearby Sync, Cloud Sync, and cross-device copy/paste.
:::
:::