Susan Manley is my co host the second Wednesday of each month on the senior show "GOLDEN RULES".
Cut, Copy, and Paste
Cut, Copy, and Paste. How I love those three little words! Of all the computer software tools available, I have found that Cut, Copy, and Paste are three of the most useful. Learning how to use them will save you a lot of time as you work in word processing, spreadsheets, My Computer, and much more. Not only can the tools be used for text, but they also work with files, folders, and graphics. Print Screen, a specialized Copy and Paste operation, is especially helpful for creating instructional materials…or for reporting error messages to technical support personnel. Knowing which feature to use and how to perform each operation will increase your efficiency with many tasks. Let’s look at how the operations work, how to perform the basic operations, and then address the more specialized Print Screen command.
Cut, Copy, and Paste – How They Work
Before you can Cut or Copy anything, you must select it. One simple way to select text is to place the mouse pointer at the beginning or at the end of the text, then click and drag the mouse over the desired text. Once you release the mouse button, the selected text is ready for the Cut or Copy operation. In the case of a graphic or a single file, a single-click will make the selection. To select multiple files, hold down the CTRL key and click the desired file icons. (If you need additional ways to select items in different programs, check your software Help menus for suggestions.) Once the items are selected, you are ready to proceed with the Cut or Copy.
Cut and Paste is a standard way to move text and graphics or to move files from one location to another. Using Cut and Paste in documents can save you from having to retype anything that isn’t in the right place. In word processing, this operation actually removes text from its original location and places it into a designated new location. I tend to use Cut and Paste during editing when I want to move a block of text to another location within a document or to an entirely different document. If I’m working in a very long document, I find Cut and Paste to be much easier to use than drag and drop editing. Remember, Cut and Paste removes items from their original locations, and you can paste them – only once – into a new location.
On the other hand, the Copy and Paste operation leaves the selected text, graphics, or files intact in their original locations and allows you to paste the items into additional locations. Using Copy and Paste allows you to copy once and perform multiple paste operations. (Thinking back to elementary school, I wish I could have used that feature when I had to write 100 times, “I will raise my hand in class.”) If you want to copy files from or to a floppy, flash drive, or other storage area, you may copy and paste the files into several locations for safe keeping.
Once the Cut or Copy operation has been performed, that mysterious area known as the “Windows Clipboard” holds the item in memory until you decide to do something with it. I suggest that you complete the Paste operation as soon as possible so that an untimely power outage or computer crash doesn’t eliminate your data. Now that you have a general understanding of the processes, let’s look at the steps for each operation.
How to Cut and Paste
As previously mentioned, you must always select the item you wish to move. Once the item (text, graphic, or file) is selected, you may activate the Cut command in one of the following ways:
- Click on the Edit Menu, then click Cut; or
- Click the Cut button (looks like a pair of scissors) on the standard toolbar; or
- Right-click the selected item and choose Cut from the shortcut menu; or
- Press and hold down the CTRL key while you press the X key.
Once the text, graphic, or file has been Cut, click in the location where you want the item to be placed.
When you are ready to do the paste operation, you may activate the command in one of the following ways:
- Click on the Edit Menu, then click Paste; or
- Click the Paste button (looks like a clipboard) on the standard toolbar; or
- Right-click the selected item and choose Paste from the shortcut menu; or
- Press and hold down the CTRL key while you press the V key.
Once you have pasted the item, you should see it in the new location. In the case of moving text in a document, you may need to adjust the spacing slightly.
If, for some reason, the operation does not work as anticipated, remember to use the Undo command (Click the Edit menu, then click Undo or, with the keyboard, press CTRL + Z) to put the cut item back where it came from. Then you can try again.
How to Copy and Paste
Once you understand Cut and Paste, the Copy and Paste operation works in the same way. After selecting the item, you may activate the Copy command in one of the following ways:
- Click on the Edit Menu, then click Copy; or
- Click the Copy button (looks like two identical pieces of paper) on the standard toolbar; or
- Right-click the selected item and choose Copy from the shortcut menu; or
- Press and hold down the CTRL key while you press the C key.
Click the destination to indicate where you want to paste the item and use the Paste commands as previously described. The advantage of this operation is that you can paste multiple times and the original is still in its place.
Using Print Screen
The Print Screen command is most similar to a Copy and Paste operation. The idea of the Print Screen originated in DOS many years ago, but I still find the command very useful for creating handouts and for sending images of error messages to our technical support people. Many people have pressed the Print Screen button, expecting a page to come out of the printer; however, pressing the Print Screen is only the first half of the operation. The Print Screen button carries out a copy operation, but you do not need to select anything. Like the copy operation, the image is sent to the clipboard, but you can’t print anything until you paste the image into a word processing program.
To print exactly what you see on your computer screen (all open windows, the taskbar, etc. minus the mouse pointer), locate and press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. On a standard keyboard, the key is usually located to the right of the Backspace key and above the Insert key.
Once you have pressed the Print Screen key, you will need to paste the screenshot into a word processing program like Word, WordPad, or Word Perfect. (Notepad does not work for this process.)
Open a document, and then use the Paste command (above) to place the image of your screen into the document. Once the screenshot is in the document, you can print the page as usual. Voila! Printed screen!
Sometimes you may only want to capture the one active window rather than everything that is showing on your screen. If that’s the case, then press and hold the ALT key while you press Print Screen, and only the image of the active window will be pasted into your document.
I hope you will benefit from using Cut, Copy, and Paste, plus Print Screen as much as I have. If you’ll take a little time to practice these skills before you need them, they will become routine and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them.
Thank you Susan for a great article