Clipboard History & Memory Integrity (HVCI): What They Do & When to Disable Them

Quick Answers

Common questions answered at a glance

Will Memory Integrity affect my gaming performance?

Yes. Memory Integrity causes additional overhead when interacting with drivers, resulting in approximately 5-8% FPS loss in most games. Testing by ComputerBase, reported by Neowin, found an approximately 8% performance penalty with VBS/HVCI enabled on an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D running Windows 11 24H2 — with “HVCI off” figures dominating in both average frames and percentile lows across their benchmark suite. In cases where the game is heavily dependent on the Processor (Processor-bound games) or the system is operating at maximum capacity, this overhead can result in stuttering or less-than-smooth gameplay.

Should I disable Memory Integrity?

That depends on your threat model. If you only install legitimate software and drivers, disabling Memory Integrity provides a tangible FPS increase. As Neowin reports, Microsoft itself published a support document acknowledging that Memory Integrity and the Virtual Machine Platform can lead to a notably worse gaming experience — and recommends disabling them as a performance optimization. However, if you install software from unknown sources or browse websites that could potentially compromise your system, Memory Integrity will provide protection from kernel-level attacks that typical antivirus software would not be able to detect. For the vast majority of gamers using dedicated gaming PCs, disabling Memory Integrity will likely provide a noticeable benefit. For shared computers or workstations, it is recommended to leave Memory Integrity enabled.

Clipboard History and Memory Integrity (HVCI) are two entirely separate Windows features that many times are lumped together as part of “optimization” tutorials. Clipboard History will store everything you copy (text, images, links) — including passwords, credit cards and other personal identifiable information. Memory Integrity (also referred to as HVCI) creates a virtualized area of memory that isolates the Windows kernel from malicious drivers (the type of attack that antivirus software cannot prevent). Both Clipboard History and Memory Integrity come with significant trade-offs; and understanding those trade-offs is far more important than mindlessly flipping switches.Clipboard History is a Windows feature that stores the last 25 things you have copied. Press Windows + V to view the history. It's convenient for productivity purposes — you don't have to re-copy an item you copied 10 minutes ago. However, the issue here is that Clipboard History stores all items copied (regardless of their nature) — passwords, API keys, credit card numbers, etc., in plain text. Any user with access to your PC (or any malware currently active on your PC) has the ability to review your clipboard history.

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If you have ever copied passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information, yes, you should disable Clipboard History. It stores this information in plain text. Therefore, anyone with access to your computer (or malware running on your computer) can view your clipboard history.Memory Integrity (also referred to as Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity, or HVCI) is a Windows security feature that utilizes hardware virtualization to protect the Windows kernel from malicious drivers. Malicious drivers can load directly into the kernel and give an attacker full access to your system. With Memory Integrity, all kernel-mode code is verified within a virtual environment that even an administrative level malicious process cannot interfere with.

Clipboard History: the privacy risk

What gets stored

Clipboard History will store the last 25 things you have copied. That includes text, images, HTML, etc. — there is no filtering. Clipboard History will store a paragraph of text that you copied from a website along with a password that you copied from your password manager.If you choose to sync clipboard history across devices, your clipboard history will be sent to Microsoft's servers and will be synced to your other Windows devices. This means that the passwords you copy will be saved to the cloud.

Who should disable Clipboard History

Everyone who copies sensitive information. Most people fit into this category. If you have ever copied a password, a credit card number, a private message or a code snippet containing API keys — Clipboard History stores it. Disabling Clipboard History means your clipboard will only hold the most recently copied item, which will be overwritten with the next item copied.

Memory Integrity (HVCI): the performance cost

How HVCI works

HVCI uses your Processor's virtualization capabilities (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) to create a secure environment where Windows verifies the integrity of kernel-mode code. Each time a driver is loaded or kernel-code is executed, HVCI will verify that it was not altered by a malicious party. This verification occurs within a hypervisor that is completely isolated from the remainder of Windows.

The performance impact

Each time a driver interacts with Windows, it is processed through the hypervisor, creating additional overhead. According to benchmarks published by ComputerBase and covered by Neowin, this results in approximately an 8% decrease in FPS on an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D — even with hardware-accelerated VBS (AMD GMET) enabled. The penalty persists across Windows 11 versions from 21H2 through 24H2, confirming that this is not a temporary regression but a fundamental cost of the feature. The largest impact is seen in Processor-bound scenarios — such as games with numerous draw calls, physics simulations, or artificial intelligence. If you are Video Card-bound (meaning your Video Card is limiting your frame rate), you will likely see a smaller reduction.

The security trade-off

HVCI protects against kernel-level attacks that standard antivirus software will not be able to detect. If a malicious driver were to load into the kernel, it would allow an attacker complete access to your system. By loading the verification of each kernel-mode module within the hypervisor, HVCI ensures that the kernel remains protected from unauthorized modification. Removing this layer of security removes this protection. For high-performance gaming PCs that utilize only trusted software and drivers, the risk is low. For PCs used to browse untrusted websites or install software from untrusted sources, it is recommended to keep HVCI enabled.

How to disable Clipboard History

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.2. Click System.3. Click Clipboard.4. Toggle off Clipboard History.5. If “Sync across devices” is selected, toggle that off as well.6. Click “Clear” under “Clear clipboard data” to delete all of the stored items.

How to disable Memory Integrity (HVCI)

1. Press Windows + I to open Settings.2. Click Privacy & Security (in Windows 11) or Update & Security (in Windows 10).3. Click Windows Security.4. Click Device Security.5. Click Core Isolation Details.6. Toggle off Memory Integrity.7. Reboot your PC for the change to take effect.Some systems may display “This setting is managed by your administrator.” If your company utilizes Group Policy to enforce HVCI, you will receive this error message. Please contact your IT department to resolve this matter.

Common issues

“Memory Integrity cannot be disabled.” Your organization may have enforced HVCI through Group Policy. Please contact your IT department to resolve this issue. Alternatively, please ensure that your PC is not being run in S Mode.“Incompatible drivers” warning appears after disabling HVCI. Some older drivers are incompatible with HVCI changes. To update your drivers, visit your Video Card manufacturer's website, or use Device Manager.“Windows + V still displays clipboard history.” You will need to reboot your PC after turning off Clipboard History to completely remove it. Also, ensure that “Sync across devices” is unchecked.“Did not experience improved performance after disabling Memory Integrity.” The ~8% increase in FPS is most pronounced in Processor-bound games. If you are Video Card-bound, the limitation is somewhere else. You may wish to monitor Processor usage during gameplay to determine if this is the case.“Blue screen after disabling Memory Integrity.” Rarely, this can occur when using certain driver combinations. You can re-enable HVCI from Safe Mode (hold down Shift while clicking Restart, then navigate to Troubleshoot → Startup Settings).

Why we create these guides

The majority of “optimization” guides instruct users to turn off both Clipboard History and Memory Integrity, without discussing the security ramifications associated with these actions. This is irresponsible. Clipboard History and Memory Integrity are actual security features that come with actual trade-offs, and you should understand them prior to making any changes to your PC.Regardless of whether you use our app or not, we believe that the information contained in these guides should be freely available to anyone interested in learning more about optimizing their PC.