Copy may refer to any of the following:

  1. First developed by Larry Tesler, copy and paste or copy is the act of duplicating text, data, files, or disks, producing two or more of the same file or segments of data. Copying a file to an alternate location, such as a USB jump drive, is a common procedure for backing up or sharing a file.

How to copy

How you’re copying all depends on what is being copied. Below are links to pages that explain how to copy text, files, directories, and other data on a computer. If you need help copying, visit the link that applies to what you’re trying to copy.

  • How to copy.

  • What is the keyboard shortcut to copy?

  • When something is copied, where does it go?

  • How is copying different than moving?

  • Why would someone copy instead of move?

  • Related information

  • How to copy and paste text to a document or another program.

  • How to copy files.

  • How to copy a directory or folder.

  • How to copy a web page link or URL.

  • How to copy information from one computer to another.

  • How to copy text and images from a web page.

  • How to copy and paste text and formulas in an Excel spreadsheet.

  • How to copy text from an Adobe PDF file.

What is the keyboard shortcut to copy?

Below is a listing of keyboard shortcuts for how you can copy on different operating systems. Keep in mind that whatever is being cut must be highlighted or selected first.

  • PC desktop and laptop = Ctrl+C
  • Apple desktop and laptop = Command+C
  • Google Chromebook = Ctrl+C

When something is copied, where does it go?

When something is copied, it goes to the clipboard and remains there until something else is copied or cut on the computer. By storing what was copied in the clipboard, you can paste it multiple times until something new is copied into the clipboard.

On many devices, you can also right-click the highlighted text and select Copy from the right-click menu. Also, you can use the shortcut key Ctrl+Insert to copy text.

How is copying different than moving?

When you copy something, you leave what you are copying in the same place and make a copy of it in another place. However, when you move something, you are taking it from one place to another place. In other words, copying creates a duplicate and moving does not.

Why would someone copy instead of move?

As mentioned above, when you copy something it remains in the same place and can be duplicated wherever it is being pasted. For example, you could copy a file and then paste that file into five other folders to get a total of six copies of a file.

  1. Copy is also used in the command line to copy a file from one directory to another.

  • How to copy and paste text to a document or another program.

  • Use the Microsoft Word Format Painter to copy formatting.

  • See the copy command page for information about the MS-DOS and Windows command line command.

  • See the Linux and Unix cp command overview for further information about this command.

Clipboard, Clone, Copy con, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Ins, Cut, Duplicate, Move, Paste, Software terms, Word processor terms, Xcopy