How to Copy‐Paste Using Keyboard Shortcuts

On Windows and Linux

Select the data to copy. You will use your mouse to highlight words, text, or images. Place the cursor on the data, left click and drag the mouse over the data to copy. When you see data in blue or black, it means the data has been highlighted.

You can also place the cursor at a line of text and press the Shift key, then use the arrow keys to select each letter.

Copy is the operation of copying data to temporary memory, but keeping the content in the original document intact.

Cut is the operation of copying data to the clipboard and deleting the content of the original document.

Press Ctrl+C on the keyboard. The key Ctrlis located to the left or right of the spacebar (most keyboards have 2 Ctrl keys). You just need to press the shortcut key combination to copy data. The computer will not tell you the data has been copied, but will still save the information to the clipboard.

The clipboard works in the background to hold copied information until you paste it or copy new information.

Find where you want to paste the data. It could be a Word program, Excel, Google Doc, or a website. Open the program on your computer and place the cursor where you want to place the copied data.

If you want to copy and paste a file or folder, just open File Explorer to get to where you need to go.

Press Ctrl+V on the keyboard. Similar to the previous operation, you will press the keys at the same time; but this time, you use the 'V' key instead of 'C.' The copied data is displayed as soon as you press these keys.

The keyboard shortcut Ctrl+ Vis used to paste data.

On Mac

Highlight text or images. You just need to place the mouse cursor over the text or image you want to copy. Left click, then drag over the image or text. Data is highlighted when you see images or text change color.

If you want to copy files or folders, select the file or folder to copy by clicking once on it.

Press ⌘ Cmd+C on the keyboard. On the last line of the keyboard, you will see the key ⌘ Cmdabbreviated from the word 'Command'. Press this key and the 'C' key at the same time to copy text or images.

The computer won't tell you the data has been copied, but certainly if you press these keys at the same time, the data will be copied!

Copy is the operation of copying data to temporary memory, but keeping the content in the original document intact.

Cut is the operation of copying data to the clipboard and deleting the content of the original document.

Find where you want to paste the data. It could be Pages, Numbers, or a website. Place the cursor where the data needs to be pasted.

Pages and Numbers are Mac versions of Word and Excel.

Press ⌘ Cmd+V on the keyboard. Similar to the previous operation, you will press these two keys at the same time. ⌘ CmdThe + shortcut Vhas a paste function, so you immediately see the content displayed on the screen!

You can paste the data as many times as you like, or copy other data.

On mobile devices

Touch and hold the content. Find the content you want to copy, then place your finger on it. Touch and hold the content until you see the options appear.

You can drag the highlight button back and forth to select other areas of the text.

If you want to highlight content in a text or message, be careful not to press other keys! You might accidentally replace all highlighted data with new content.

Drag the highlight button to select content. Use your finger to drag the highlight button over the content area you want to select. Content is highlighted when color is added.

On iOS devices, the content will turn blue.

On Android devices, the content will turn green.

Click Copy . Take your hands off the screen and watch the menu appear on the selected content area. Click the 'Copy' button to copy the text on the mobile device.

The phone will not notify you when text has been copied, and this is done automatically.

Touch and hold the space where you want to paste the data. It could be the Notes app, web browser, messaging, or text. Place your finger where you want to insert content, then touch and hold until the menu appears.

Tap Paste . The content will display immediately in the area you selected. Now you can continue pasting the copied content or copying another content!

Fix problems in some specific cases

Highlight and paste math symbols or carets into new text. If you need to add a formula or character with a caret, you can use keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste into the text. Find the content you want to highlight, copy it, and then paste it into the new location.

You can find special characters by searching on Google.

Copy and paste emojis on your computer screen. You can highlight and copy emojis on your phone by doing a regular tap and hold. However, if you are using a computer, you can use a search engine to find the emoji you need, then copy it to your computer. From there, you'll add the emoji to the new data entry box.

Some applications, such as email, do not support emojis.

Copy and paste data between applications. Even when you switch from the Word program to the web or from Pages to the Notes app, you can still use keyboard shortcuts. If not, just right-click, then select 'Copy' or 'Paste'.

Some websites have copy and paste blockers so you can't 'steal' their information. Scientific articles and paid articles that are view-based do not allow you to copy content or images displayed on the screen.

Restart your computer if your operation doesn't work. Sometimes you may not be able to copy and paste content on your computer using keyboard shortcuts. To fix this problem, you should try shutting down your computer and restarting it.

If this doesn't work, you'll need to restart your computer's keyboard or update your keyboard driver.

Use Ctrl+Z to clear the error operation. Don't worry if you highlighted a line and accidentally deleted it! On Windows or Linux, just press Ctrl+ Z. On Mac, this is done with the keyboard shortcut ⌘ Cmd+ Z. This is how you can clear the error operation and try again.

Just remember to delete the error immediately!

Micah Soto

Update 11 November 2023