Macintosh OS X

Copying, Cutting, and Pasting

In many situations, you will want to copy or move text or graphics within a document or from one document to another. This can be done without retyping all of the information. By using copy/cut and paste, you can copy or move text and graphics from one document to another.

Material can be moved within a document, between documents in the same application, and between applications. Copy/cut and paste commands can be used with any Macintosh application.

Scenario Examples
Copying
Cutting
Pasting

Scenario Examples

Copy and Paste

Internet: You may want to copy text from a Web page and paste it into a Word document to cite or to print. Netscape allows you to copy text, but not to cut it.

Email: You may want to copy the content of a Word document and paste it into an email message.

Cut and Paste

Word: If you have a large file that you decide to divide into a number of smaller files, you may want to cut and paste blocks of information into new files.

Copying Text

Once you copy the text or graphics, you can paste the copied material into the same document, into a different document, or into a different application.

Select the text or graphic to be copied
From the Edit menu, select Copy
OR
Press [command]+[C]
The item is copied.

Cutting Text

Once you cut the text (or graphics), you can paste that material within the same document, into a different document, or into a different application.

Select the text or graphic to be cut
From the Edit menu, select Cut
OR
Press [command]+[X]
The item is cut.

Pasting

When you have placed text (or graphics) on the Clipboard by copying or cutting, you can paste that material within the same document, into a different document in the same application, or into a document in a different application.

Pasting within the Same Document

Place your cursor where you want to paste the text or graphic
From the Edit menu, select Paste
OR
Press [command]+[V]
The item is pasted.

Pasting Between Documents in the Same Application

You can have two documents open at once; it is not necessary to close one document each time you want to switch to the other.

After you have copied or cut the text, open the second document (in which the text will be pasted)
Place the cursor where you want to paste the text
From the Edit menu, select Paste
OR
Press [command]+[V]
Do one of the following:
- To close the second document and return to the first:
  1. In the second document, from the File menu, select Save
  2. From the File menu, select Close
- To return to the first document without closing the second:
  1. From the Window menu, select the name of the first document
    Use the Window menu to move back and forth between documents.

Pasting Between Applications

You can have more than one application open at once; it is not necessary to close one application each time you want to switch to the other.

After you have copied or cut the text, open the second application
Open the file in which the text will be pasted
Place the cursor where you want to paste the text
From the Edit menu, select Paste
OR
Press [command]+[V]
Do one of the following:
- To exit the second application and return to the first:
  1. In the application you want to exit, from the File menu, select Save
  2. From the application (e.g., Word, Excel) menu, select Quit
- To move between open applications:
  1. On the Dock, click on the desired application