Image paste (Ctrl+V) still broken on Windows in Claude Code v2.1.131

[waddah12alhajar]

Summary

Pasting an image from the clipboard (Ctrl+V) into Claude Code's TUI does nothing on Windows. Affects Windows native, WSL Ubuntu (X11), and tested terminal hosts (Cursor, Windows Terminal, conhost). Workaround paths exist (Alt+V on some setups, manual file paths via shotpath / Python clipboard watcher) but they are workarounds, not a fix.

Why a new issue

#4272 tracked this and was auto-closed by the inactivity bot on 2026-01-24 despite active reports of the same behavior in the comments (and explicit replies asking the bot to keep it open). The closed issue is now locked. Per the bot's own template: "please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant" — that's what this issue is.

Reproduction

1. Use Windows 11 (or WSL Ubuntu under X11) with Claude Code installed.
2. Take a screenshot with Win+Shift+S so a PNG is on the clipboard. Verify the clipboard has the image by pasting it into another app (e.g. Word, Paint, browser textarea) — the image appears.
3. In Claude Code's prompt, press Ctrl+V.

Expected: Claude Code attaches the image (as it does on macOS) and the model can see it.

Actual: Nothing happens. No file gets attached. No error message in the TUI. No log entry that I can see.

Environment

• Platform: win32
• OS: Windows 11
• Claude Code version: 2.1.131 (CLI)
• Terminal hosts tried: Cursor 1.x, Windows Terminal, conhost
• Shell: PowerShell 5.1

Same behavior reported by others

Quoting comments on #4272 that span ~6 months and are still unresolved:

• @hakonhagland (Jul 2025, Ubuntu 24.04 WSL on Windows 11)
• @10eputzen (Aug 2025, WSL — uses drag-and-drop into the repo as a workaround)
• @deadeuzesse (Sep 2025, "Ctrl+V stopped working ~10 days ago, Alt+V now works")
• @PierrunoYT, @khitab (multiple confirmations through Dec 2025)
• @hemangjoshi37a (Nov 2025) — works under Wayland, not under X11

Known workarounds (none of them are great)

• Alt+V instead of Ctrl+V — works for some users (per @deadeuzesse), didn't reliably work for me
• shotpath.exe — third-party Windows app that puts the screenshot path on clipboard so Ctrl+V pastes a path string (not the image)
• Python ImageGrab watcher (posted by @titaniumshovel on Image Paste Functionality Broken on Windows Platform #4272) — same idea as shotpath but no exe needed
• Drag-and-drop the file into the TUI — sometimes works, depends on terminal host

Why this matters

Image attachments are a first-class feature on macOS Claude Code. Windows users can't use it without third-party tooling. For multimodal workflows (UI screenshots, screenshots of error dialogs, design references) this is a real productivity gap that's been open for over six months across multiple bug reports.

Asks

1. Fix Ctrl+V clipboard image detection on Windows native and WSL.
2. If a fix is non-trivial, document a supported workaround in the official Claude Code docs (currently the only docs are scattered across closed GitHub issues).
3. Consider exempting platform-specific bug reports from the inactivity auto-close bot, or at least keeping them open while there are recent comments. The bot's behavior is also tracked in [BUG] github-actions incorrectly closed a bunch of issues for "60 days of inactivity" #16497.

Cross-reference

• Closed predecessor: Image Paste Functionality Broken on Windows Platform #4272 (locked, multiple unresolved comments)
• Related (bot auto-close behavior): [BUG] github-actions incorrectly closed a bunch of issues for "60 days of inactivity" #16497

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. Image paste (Ctrl+V) stopped working in Windows Terminal #32791
2. [BUG] Image paste shortcut appears swapped between Windows and Mac (Ctrl+V vs Alt+V) #24092
3. [BUG] Bug/Feature: Clipboard image paste not working in WSL #13738

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[waddah12alhajar]

why don't you change it from ALT V Q to CTRL V ?!

[Ghada-Ch]

Ctrl+V image paste works on my Windows setup, so this might be environment-specific or related to newer/older updates (Claude Code, terminal, WSL, etc.) rather than a general Windows issue ?!

[waddah12alhajar]

@Ghada-Ch could you please tell me your claude code and windows version?

[Ghada-Ch]

@waddah12alhajar I am using Claude Sonnet 4.6 + windows 11

[JonrGull]

@waddah12alhajar this has never worked for me either. But I asked my claude in WSL about it. It says ctrl+V was being intercepted by windows terminal/warp terminal (I use both sometimes).

So, all it did was this. Sorry for the copy-paste response from Claude.

What I did: Added "alt+v": "chat:imagePaste" to your ~/.claude/keybindings.json. Alt+V isn't intercepted by
  the terminal, so the keypress reaches Claude Code. Claude Code then:

  1. Detects it's running in WSL (via WSL_DISTRO_NAME env var)
  2. Calls powershell.exe Get-Clipboard -Format Image to grab the image from the Windows clipboard
  3. Converts it to PNG and attaches it to your message

  The underlying WSL PowerShell fallback was already built into Claude Code - the only missing piece was
  getting the keypress past the terminal.

However, what is weird is now this also makes ctrl+v work for pasting images. Removing the added hotkey of alt+v broke it. I'll see if I find anything about this but could just be a bug. But for now, you can try and see if this works? No guarantee it won't break in the future though. Hope this made sense.

Small update:
This 'fix' makes ctrl + v work on my Warp terminal, but not on windows terminal. However, alt + v still works fine.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.