It's such a simple operation, you'd think everyone already knows how to copy, cut, and paste. But since I've been asked a few times how to do this, here is a quick beginners guide.
First, What's the difference between copy/paste and cut/paste?
When you copy/paste, whatever you are copying stays where it is. After you paste it, you now have that text or that picture in two places: Where you copied from and where you copied to.
When you cut/paste, the part you are cutting is removed from its place and moved to the place you are pasting it to. You don't have two copies of it like you do with copy/paste.
So, how do you cut or copy and paste?
First, select the item you want to copy or cut:
- If it's a file in a folder that you want to copy (to duplicate) or cut (to move) into another folder, click on the file to select it. To select multiple files at once, hold down the Control (CTRL) key (on Windows) while clicking the other files.
- For images, right-click on the image, then click on "Copy" or "Copy Image" depending on the application.
- If you want to copy some text, highlight it by clicking just before the first letter you want to copy, hold down the mouse button while dragging your mouse to the right, and then releasing after you have selected your text.
Copying/Cutting and Pasting: The Point-and-Click Method
Next, in many applications, you'll see at the top of the application window, "Edit" right next to "File". Click Edit to reveal the drop down menu and select Copy or Cut, depending on what you want to do and if cutting is an option.
Okay, now that we've selected the item and copied/cut it into memory, we can paste it somewhere else. In your new document or folder, go back to Edit and select Paste. Alternately, if you don't have that Edit menu (e.g., in Windows Explorer), right-click in the document or folder and select Paste.
A Faster Method: Keyboard Shortcuts
Copying, cutting and pasting with your mouse is pretty straightforward, but using keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time.
Select your items to copy or cut as above. To select all items on a page or folder, you can use the CTRL+A or Command + A shortcut: hold down the CTRL button (on Windows) or Command key (on Mac) then hit the A key.
Then hit these keys together to copy, cut, and paste them:
Windows: Hold down the CTRL key then click
- C to copy
or - X to cut
- V to paste
That's all there is to it. Practice a few times, and you'll be able to do it without even thinking.
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