How to use keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste on Mac
Some keyboard shortcuts are used so frequently that they have become part of the language. Ctrl C and Ctrl V are shortcuts for copy and paste in Windows that have become part of many memes.
As you might expect, Mac likes to do a few different things, so if you try to copy and paste using Ctrl C and Ctrl V, you won't get Too much luck. Thankfully, you don't need to learn a whole new set of shortcuts.
To use keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste on Mac:
- Highlight the text you want to copy.
- Press Cmd C to copy it, or Cmd X to cut it. Cut is the same as copying, but it deletes the text instead of leaving it in place.
- Navigate to where you want to paste the text and press Cmd V.
- Your text will be pasted.
- If you want to paste without formatting, try Cmd Shift V or Cmd Alt V. The shortcuts you need vary from application to application.
How to copy and paste on Mac by right-clicking
You can also copy and paste on Mac using your mouse or trackpad instead of keyboard shortcuts.
To copy and paste on Mac by right-clicking:
- Highlight the text you want to copy.
- Right-click somewhere in the highlighted text.
- Select Copy from the context menu.
- Navigate to where you want to paste the text.
- Right click and select Paste.
- Your text will be pasted.
- You may also have other paste options available in the context menu, depending on the application you are pasting into. These might be options such as "Paste Special", which allows you to decide the formatting of what you paste, or "Paste and Match Style", which will format the content in the same way you want to paste it. Paste your text into the same format as the text in the application.
How to use Finder to copy and paste on Mac
If you want to copy and paste an entire file instead of just part of the text, you can do so in the Finder application Do this in . This allows you to copy files to different folders.
To copy and paste on Mac using Finder:
- Open Finder and highlight the file or files you want to copy. You can select multiple files by holding Cmd as you click each file, or by clicking the first file, holding down the Shift key, and clicking the last file to select contiguous file sections.
- After selecting the files, right-click on any selected file.
- Select Copy from the context menu.
- Navigate to the location where you want to paste the file or files, and then right-click in an empty part of the Finder window.
- If you are in list view, clicking on the mostly empty area will select one of the files in the folder. However, if you right-click below the line above the file at the top of the list, you will access the correct menu. Alternatively, you can use the Finder menu, as described in the next section.
- Select Paste or Paste X items and your files will be pasted into the current folder.
How to copy and paste on Mac using menus
Most applications include copy and paste options in their menus when you use the application These options are accessible at the top of the screen.
To copy and paste on Mac using menus:
- Select text, files or objects to copy.
- Move your mouse to the top of the screen to bring up the menu bar.
- Click Edit.
- Click "Copy" in the "Edit" menu.
- Navigate to where you want to paste.
- Click the Edit menu again and select Paste.
- The contents of the clipboard should now be displayed.
How to Copy and Paste from Mac to Other Apple Devices
Switching is a feature that looks almost like voodoo. You can copy something on your iPhone, hit paste on your Mac, and whatever you copied on your iPhone will now magically appear on your Mac. And vice versa—copy something on your Mac and you can paste it into an app on your iPhone or iPad.
Before you can use this useful feature, you need to enable Handoff on your Mac and iPhone or iPad.
How to enable the toggle
Handoff can be turned on in Settings, but you need to make sure it's turned on for all the devices you plan to use it on. If it only opens on one device, you won't be able to copy and paste between devices.
To turn on Handoff:
- On your Mac, open the System Preferences App.
- Select General.
- At the bottom of the screen, make sure Allow switching between this Mac and your iCloud devices is checked.
- Now open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Click on General.
- SelectAirPlay and Handoff.
- Make sure Handoff is switched to the On position.
How to use Handoff for copying and pasting
After activating Handoff on the device in question, you can use it to quickly and easily copy and paste between devices. Paste.
To use Handoff to copy and paste to your Mac, do the following:
- On your Mac, highlight some text.
- Press Cmd C to copy it.
- Open your iPhone and open the app you want to paste the text into.
- Click and hold where you want the text to appear, then select Paste.
- You will see the message that Handoff is pasting from your Mac.
- After a few moments, your text will appear on your iPhone.
- To paste from iPhone to Mac, click and hold the text or image you want to copy, then select Copy.
- On Mac, open the app you want to paste into, place the cursor where you want to paste, and press Cmd V.
- You will see a message that something is being pasted from your iPhone.
- Your content will be pasted into your Mac.
Learn More About Your Mac
As you can see, there's a lot more to copying and pasting on your Mac than you might think. There are many other useful Mac features you may not be fully aware of.
For example, you can use Apple Focus on your Mac to eliminate distractions while you work. If you want to watch content on a bigger screen, you can AirPlay from iPhone to Mac.