hluk/CopyQ

Doing Windows + Print Screen sometimes results in <EMPTY> status

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#3,613 opened on May 29, 2026

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Windowsbughelp wanted

Description

Describe the bug

There is an inconsistent but frequent bug where when I do Windows + Print Screen, while the image is copied to my system clipboard as expected, it does not go into CopyQ, and the top status bar updates to <EMPTY>, while this is inaccurate.

To Reproduce

  1. Do Windows + Print Screen repeatedly until you can reproduce
  2. Observe how sometimes the status changes to <EMPTY>

Expected behavior The image is always visible in CopyQ`

Version, OS and Environment CopyQ 15.0.0 Arch: x86_64-little_endian-llp64 Audio: miniaudio 0.11.25 Compiler: MSVC KNotifications: 6.23.0 KStatusNotifierItem: 6.23.0 OS: Windows 11 Version 25H2 QCA: 2.3.10 Qt: 6.10.2 QtKeychain: 0.15.0 has-audio: 1 has-encryption: 1 has-global-shortcuts: 1 has-keychain: 1 has-mouse-selection: 0

Additional context [2026-05-27 18:18:48.558] Warning <cmd/monitorClipboard-34840>: [qt.qpa.mime] Retrying to obtain clipboard.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
C++Qt
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Examine the clipboard monitoring code, especially the retry warning in cmd/monitorClipboard. Trace how Print Screen inserts the image and why it sometimes fails to copy into CopyQ, leading to an empty status.