How To Hack WSLg Clipboard

2021-12-01

After setting up WSLg on Windows 11, I use WSL's Emacs as my primary editor. My basic workflow mostly involves using a web browser (Google Chrome) on Windows and coding in Emacs. The problem is that the clipboard system doesn't work very well (see issue #15 on GitHub). So I created a hack solution:

1. Create a command in WSL at /usr/local/bin/wclip
2. Insert the following command:

   /mnt/c/path-to-pwsh.exe -NonInteractive -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command "get-clipboard -Raw"
   

3. Call wclip after copying something on Windows

For Emacs, add this function:

(defun get-windows-clipboard ()
  (interactive)
  (insert 
    (s-replace "\r" "" 
      (shell-command-to-string "wclip"))))

It's slower than the native way, that's for sure, but it works every time.