Cut, Copy, and Paste

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Cut, Copy, and Paste

Using the "Invisible Windows Clipboard" One of the basic functions of a computer is being able to COPY data located in one place and then "PASTE" it into a different place. After an item (such as a text phrase, a picture, or a music file) is copied it will be held in an area of memory called the Windows Clipboard, where it waits to be pasted somewhere else.

The same is true of "CUT." Unlike DELETE, which completely removes an item, CUT will move it to the Clipboard.

Any item stored on the invisible Clipboard can be pasted into another location. For instance, if there is a phrase in a Word document you’d like to insert into an email, simply copy it and paste it into your message. A copied (or cut) item will remain on the Clipboard until some other item is copied or cut, which will then replace the current item.

Furthermore, a Clipboard item can be pasted multiple times. As an experiment, select a word in a text file and do Edit>Copy. Then do Edit>Paste in different places throughout the document, or even into other documents.

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Cutting, copying, and pasting text is easy. However, doing so with other data can be more challenging. For instance, if you want to paste the results of a spreadsheet calculation into a particular cell, you may be asked if you want to paste in the formula that produced the total or just the total. Click on Edit>Paste Special to make your choice.

Cut, Copy, and Paste are listed under a toolbar’s EDIT heading, along with being displayed as toolbar icons. However, the commands are executable only if something has actually been mouse-selected. Paste is executable whenever something is resident on the Clipboard.

     Cut, Copy, and Paste keyboard shortcuts are Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V respectively. Mouse equivalents are available by right-clicking an item and choosing from the popup menu. Any command can be reversed by doing Edit>Undo, or by pressing Ctrl+Z, or by clicking the toolbar’s bent left arrow.

     When I find an interesting article on the Internet I mouse-select it, do Ctrl+C, and then paste it into a blank Word page with Ctrl+V. Often I will paste the article into a blank email and send it to myself. Before sending, however, I usually enlarge the text size because of my less than perfect vision.

     Mouse-selecting a Web page article will also include any pictures in the story. However, if a picture is all you want, right-click it and choose Save Picture As, whereupon it will be saved in the Pictures folder on your PC. If you plan on editing the picture you can right-click it, choose Copy, and then Paste it directly into an image-editor with Ctrl+V.

     To copy a Web page’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator) right-click into its address bar, choose Copy and then Paste it into an e-mail, a yellow sticky note, or any other text document.