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

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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

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.
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