How to Copy, Cut and Paste on Windows 11 (All Methods)

To copy on Windows, select the text or file and press Ctrl+C. To cut, press Ctrl+X instead. Then click where you want it and press Ctrl+V to paste. With a mouse, right-click the selection and choose Copy or Cut, then right-click the destination and choose Paste.

Copy leaves the original where it is. Cut removes selected text straight away, or marks selected files to be moved when you paste them.

Keyboard shortcuts

To select text with the keyboard, hold Shift and use the arrow keys. Windows copy and paste keyboard shortcuts has the full list, including app-specific ones.

Copy and paste with a mouse

1. Select the text by clicking at the start and dragging to the end. For a file, click it once.
2. Right-click the selection and choose Copy (or Cut).
3. Right-click where you want it to go and choose Paste.

Most apps also have Copy, Cut and Paste buttons, usually on the Home tab or in an Edit menu.

In File Explorer on Windows 11, Cut, Copy and Paste appear as icons at the top of the right-click menu rather than words. Hover over an icon to see its name. Show more options opens the longer, older menu.

Copy and paste on a laptop touchpad

A touchpad works like a mouse:

1. Select text by pressing down on the touchpad and dragging, or tap once to click a file.
2. Tap the touchpad with two fingers, or press its lower-right corner, to right-click.
3. Choose Copy or Cut, move to the destination, right-click again and choose Paste.

If a two-finger tap doesn't open the menu, use the lower-right corner. Some gestures only work on precision touchpads.

Copy and paste on a touchscreen

1. Select the text you want, or tap a file.
2. Press and hold the selection to bring up the menu, and tap Copy or Cut.
3. Press and hold where you want to paste, and tap Paste.

For files in File Explorer, press and hold the file to open the same right-click menu. With a Surface Pen, hold the side button and tap instead; copy and paste with a Surface Pen covers pen-only setups.

Copying and moving files in File Explorer

For files and folders, copy and cut mean duplicate and move:

1. Select the file or folder. Hold Ctrl and click to select several.
2. Press Ctrl+C to copy it, or Ctrl+X to move it.
3. Open the destination folder and press Ctrl+V.

A cut file stays in its original folder until you paste. If you copy something else before pasting, the move is cancelled and the file doesn't go anywhere.

You can also drag files with the mouse. Hold Ctrl while you drop to make a copy, or Shift to move. Copying multiple files covers larger file jobs.

Cutting text: what happens to it

When you cut text in an editor, it disappears from the document immediately and waits on the clipboard. If you copy anything else before pasting, the cut text is replaced on the clipboard. Get it back with Ctrl+Z in the original document, or from Win+V if clipboard history is on. Text you deleted rather than cut never reaches the clipboard; recovering deleted text covers what to try instead. Paste soon after you cut, or copy first and delete the original once the paste has worked.

Paste without the formatting

When pasted text brings fonts, colours or links you don't want, use Ctrl+Shift+V where the app supports it. In Word, the Paste Options button that appears after pasting has Keep Text Only. How to paste without formatting covers other apps.

Copy screenshots

Paste the capture with Ctrl+V into an email, chat, document or image editor. How to put a screenshot on the clipboard has more options.

Paste something you copied earlier

The clipboard holds one item at a time; each copy replaces the last. To keep several, turn on clipboard history: press Windows logo key + V and select Turn on. After that, Win+V shows your recent copies and you can click any of them to paste. How to copy multiple items at once explains this and the Office Clipboard.

If copy and paste stops working

Copy a short piece of text in Notepad and paste it back into Notepad. If that works, the problem is the app you're pasting into: some password fields and websites block paste, and some apps only accept certain kinds of content. If it fails in Notepad too, see copy and paste completely dead on Windows 11.

FAQ

What's the difference between copy and cut?

Copy leaves the original in place and puts a duplicate on the clipboard. Cut removes the original (for text) or moves it when you paste (for files).

Why does Ctrl+V paste the wrong thing?

It always pastes the most recent copy. If you copied something else in between, that's what you'll get. Use Win+V to pick an earlier item, if clipboard history is on.

Can I copy and paste between apps?

Yes. The clipboard is shared by every app on your PC, so you can copy in a browser and paste into Word, an email or a chat.

Related reading

• Copy and Paste Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 11 and 10
• Right-Click Copy vs Ctrl+C: Is There a Difference?
• How the Windows Clipboard Works: What Happens on Copy
• Paste Missing From the Right-Click Menu in Windows 11? Fixes

Sources

• Keyboard shortcuts in Windows (Microsoft Support) — copy, cut, paste, plain-text paste, undo, Win+V, screenshot keys, Ctrl and Shift drag in File Explorer.
• File Explorer in Windows (Microsoft Support) — Cut and Paste to move files, Windows 11 context menu icons, Show more options.
• Touch gestures for Windows (Microsoft Support) — press and hold, two-finger tap and lower-right corner right-click.
• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — turning on clipboard history.

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