How to Copy and Paste on Mac

This is an article that shows you how to copy and paste text or files on a Mac computer. Although the built-in menu bar on the Mac is often used to copy and paste data, you can still use the trackpad or keyboard to do so.

Table of Contents

Use the menu bar

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Find the text or file you want to copy. You can copy text to paste into another document or input field, or copy one or more files to paste one into another folder on your computer.

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Select text or file. To select text, click and drag over the text to highlight it. You can select a file by clicking on it.

If you want to select multiple files at once, hold down the ⌘ Command key while clicking each file.

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Click Edit on the left side of the menu bar at the top of your Mac screen to open a selection list.

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Click the Copy option in the Edit menu. This copies the selected text or file to your Mac’s clipboard.

If you’re just copying a file, you’ll see the filename displayed next to Copy .
You will not see a copy of the text or file at this time.

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Find where you want to paste the text or file. You can paste text into any input field or document and paste files into most folders on your computer.

If you’re pasting text into an input field, be sure to click the field before you act.

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Click Edit on the menu bar to open the selection list.

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Click Paste Item in the selection list. You will see the text or file displayed in the selected place.

Click the Paste Items option if you have copied multiple files.
If just copying a file, click Paste [file name] , such as Paste “Screenshot 1” in the drop-down list.

Use the trackpad

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Consider using keyboard shortcuts. You can use your Mac’s keyboard to open a right-click menu, and copy and paste data:

Hold down the Contrp key while clicking on the data to open a menu with Copy and Paste options.
Press ⌘ Command + C key after selecting text or file to copy data.
Press ⌘ Command + V key after copying text or file to paste the data.

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Open the Apple menu

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. You will click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen to open this menu.

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Click System Preferences… in the menu to open this window.

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Click Trackpad at the top of the System Preferences window. The screen will display another window.

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Click the Point & Click tab at the top of the System Preferences window.

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Check the “Secondary click” box on the left side of the window. Here’s how to enable two-finger click for your Mac’s trackpad.

If this box is checked, the “secondary click” feature is enabled.

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Find the text or file you want to copy. Access the document or folder containing the content or text that you want to copy.

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Select text before copying. You’ll need to click and drag your mouse over the text you want to copy before you can copy it.

If you want to copy multiple files, hold down the ⌘ Command key while clicking each file to copy.

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Perform a two-finger click on the selected data. Placing the mouse pointer over the selected data and then pressing the trackpad with two fingers will display a selection list.

If you have selected multiple files, you can simply perform a two-finger click once on the selected files.

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Click Copy in the selection list to copy the selected data to your Mac’s clipboard.

You will not see a copy of the text or data at this time.
If you’re just copying a file, you’ll see the name of the file next to Copy .

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Find where you want to paste the text or file. You can paste text into any input or text field and paste files into most folders on your computer.

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Perform a two-finger click in an input field or empty area to open a selection list.

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Click the Paste option in the menu that appears. You will see the text or file displayed in the selected place.

Click Paste Items if you have copied multiple files.
If copying only one file, click Paste [file name] , such as Paste “Screenshot 1” in the drop-down list.

Advice

If you have a Mac that uses a mouse (such as an iMac), clicking the right side of the mouse opens a menu with Copy and Paste options.
You can use the “Cut” feature to remove text from a document or input field after copying data to the clipboard. You’ll see Cut in the Edit menu, or you can press Command + X to cut the selected text.

Warning

Some text content will not display in some cases. For example, you won’t see text message emojis containing emojis when copied from your Mac’s messaging app and pasted into an input field on Facebook or something similar.
Copying more files or other text before you paste the previously copied data will overwrite the old data. This can be disastrous if you’re copying and pasting important information between documents or folders.

Steps

Use the menu bar

Use the trackpad

Advice

Warning

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