How to Copy and Paste on Windows 11

Quick answer: select text, an image, a file, or a folder, press Ctrl + C, click the destination, then press Ctrl + V. Right-click and choose Copy or Paste if you prefer the mouse.

These steps apply to Windows 11, including the current 26H2 release, and nearly all of them work the same way in Windows 10. They cover the keyboard, the mouse, touch screens, File Explorer, clipboard history, plain-text pasting, and what to do when paste doesn’t work.

Copy and paste with the keyboard

1. Select the item. Drag across text, or click a file or folder once in File Explorer. Press Ctrl + A to select everything. The selection is highlighted.
2. Press Ctrl + C. Windows copies the item to the clipboard, a temporary holding area in memory. Nothing visible changes.
3. Go to the destination. Click where the text should go, or open the destination folder.
4. Press Ctrl + V. The copy appears; the original stays where it was.

To select several separate files, hold Ctrl while clicking each one. To select a range, click the first item, hold Shift, and click the last. In text, hold Shift and press the arrow keys to extend a selection one character or line at a time.

Copy and paste with the mouse

1. Select the item, then right-click it.
2. Choose Copy. In Windows 11 File Explorer and on the desktop, Copy and Cut appear as icons at the top or bottom of the right-click menu, with Copy shown as two overlapping pages.

3. Right-click at the destination, such as inside a folder, on the desktop, or on a folder icon, and choose Paste. The item appears in the new location.

File Explorer also has Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons in the command bar at the top of the window. The older right-click menu is still under Show more options, or press Shift + F10 with an item selected. Many apps, such as Word and Excel, have Cut, Copy, and Paste buttons on the Home tab, and some older programs have an Edit menu. For more ways to work with folders, read about using File Explorer in Windows 11. Apps add their own twists as well; in Excel, one Ctrl+V can fill a whole selection when you paste into multiple cells.

Copy and paste on a touch screen

1. Press and hold a word to select it, then drag the circular handles to cover the text you want.
2. Tap Copy in the menu that appears, or press and hold the selection to open it.
3. Press and hold where you want the text, then tap Paste.

For files, press and hold the file in File Explorer to open the same right-click menu you get with a mouse.

Copy vs. cut

Command	Shortcut	What happens
Copy	Ctrl + C	Makes a duplicate and leaves the original in place.
Cut	Ctrl + X	Moves the item. Text disappears right away; a cut file dims in File Explorer and moves when you paste it.
Paste	Ctrl + V	Puts the copied or cut item at the destination. You can paste the same copied item more than once.
Undo	Ctrl + Z	Reverses the last paste, including a file copy in File Explorer.

These alternate shortcuts still work almost everywhere: Ctrl + Insert to copy, Shift + Delete to cut text, and Shift + Insert to paste. In File Explorer, Shift + Delete permanently deletes a file instead of cutting it, so don’t use it there. If you only want to relocate files, follow the steps for moving files instead of copying them.

Copy files by dragging and dropping

1. Open two File Explorer windows side by side: the source and the destination.
2. Drag the file or folder from one window to the other and release the mouse button.

Dragging between folders on the same drive moves the item, while dragging to a different drive, such as a USB stick, copies it. Hold Ctrl while you drag to force a copy, or Shift to force a move. Windows shows “Copy to” or “Move to” next to the pointer before you let go.

If a file with the same name already exists, Windows asks whether to Replace the file in the destination, Skip this file, or compare the two. Choose Skip if you aren’t sure which copy is newer.

Paste an earlier item with clipboard history

1. Press Windows + V. The first time, select Turn on. You can also turn it on in Settings > System > Clipboard.
2. Copy a few items as usual.
3. Click where you want to paste, press Windows + V, and choose an item from the list. That item pastes at the cursor.

According to Microsoft’s clipboard guide, history holds up to 25 items of up to 4 MB each (text, HTML, and images) and clears when you restart, except for items you pin. Select the pin icon next to an item to keep it, or select See more (…) and Delete to remove one.

You can also sync text to your other devices with Clipboard history across your devices when you sign in with the same Microsoft account. Here is how to view the clipboard in Windows 11, and clear it when you’re done so copied passwords don’t linger.

On a phone, the history works differently; here is how to find the clipboard on Android.

Copy screenshots and terminal text

• Screenshots: press Windows + Shift + S, drag over part of the screen, then click in an email or document and press Ctrl + V to paste the capture. Here is how to use Snipping Tool on Windows 11.
• Command Prompt and Terminal: Microsoft’s Windows Terminal documentation lists Ctrl + C, Ctrl + Shift + C, and Ctrl + Insert for copy, and Ctrl + V, Ctrl + Shift + V, and Shift + Insert for paste. Ctrl + C copies only when text is selected; with nothing selected, it goes to the running program and usually stops it.
• Web pages: select text with your mouse and use Ctrl + C. To copy a link or picture, right-click it and choose the copy link or copy image option.

Paste without formatting

Text copied from a web page or document can bring fonts, colors, and links with it. You have a few ways to paste plain text:

• In the app: use the receiving app’s paste options, such as Keep Text Only in Word. In many browsers and some other apps, Ctrl + Shift + V pastes plain text.
• With PowerToys: Microsoft’s free PowerToys includes Advanced Paste. Its Ctrl + Windows + Alt + V shortcut pastes plain text in any app, and its plain-text option runs on your PC without AI.
• With Notepad: paste into Notepad first, then copy it again from there.

Want a paper copy of what you copied? Here’s how to print from the clipboard in Windows 11.

Already pasted into an email? You can still remove formatting from an email in Outlook.

Copy text you can’t select

Some text, like an error message in a dialog box or words in an image, can’t be highlighted. In Windows 11, open Snipping Tool, select New, capture the text, then select Text actions and choose to copy all text. Microsoft says this text recognition runs on your device. With Microsoft PowerToys installed, you can instead press Windows key + Shift + T to start Text Extractor, drag over the text, and paste it anywhere. Proofread names and numbers afterward, since text recognition can misread characters.

Can’t find the app? The steps for opening Snipping Tool in Windows 11 list every shortcut and menu route.

If paste is not working

• Copy the item again and check that the destination accepts that type of content. You can’t paste an image into a plain-text box, for example.
• Use the right-click menu. A grayed-out Paste command means there’s nothing compatible on the clipboard.
• For files, check that you have permission and enough free space in the destination folder.
• Some sites and apps block copying; try the Text Extractor method above.
• Restart the app, or restart Windows if copy and paste fails everywhere.

For more fixes, read about fixing copy and paste in Windows 11.

Copy a File or Folder’s Path

In File Explorer, right-click the file or folder and select Copy as path. In Windows 11, it’s in the main right-click menu. You can also select the item and press Ctrl + Shift + C. Click where you want the path and press Ctrl + V. The pasted text is the item’s full address in quotation marks, not a copy of the file.

Frequently asked questions