Copy and Paste With a Surface Pen: What Actually Works
By Khushi Yadav
To copy and paste with a Surface Pen, select the text or object, then hold the pen's side button and tap the selection to open the right-click menu, and choose Copy. Tap where you want it, hold the side button and tap again, and choose Paste. With a finger, press and hold instead of using the side button. Everything you copy this way goes onto the same Windows clipboard a keyboard uses, so Ctrl+V and clipboard history work as normal.
Pen and touch equivalents of mouse actions
Microsoft's Surface Pen guide and its Windows touch gestures page give these mappings:
| Mouse action | Surface Pen | Finger |
|---|---|---|
| Left-click | Tap the item | Tap the item |
| Right-click (context menu) | Hold the side button, then tap the item | Press and hold the item |
| Select several items | Hold the side button and drag over them | Varies by app |
| Erase ink | Turn the pen over and rub with the end | Not applicable |
Once the context menu is open, Copy, Cut and Paste work exactly as they do with a mouse. In text, most apps let you select by tapping or double-tapping a word and then dragging the selection handles that appear at each end.
If the side button doesn't open a menu, check the pen settings in Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Pen & Windows Ink. Some drawing and note apps use the side button for their own tools, so a right-click that works in File Explorer may do something else inside Photoshop or OneNote.
How to paste an older copy without a keyboard
Windows clipboard history keeps your recent copies, but it's normally opened with Win+V, which needs a keyboard. Turn it on first in Settings > System > Clipboard > Clipboard history; how to enable clipboard history has the details.
Without a keyboard attached, you have two routes:
- Use the touch keyboard. On Windows 11, tap into a text field so the touch keyboard appears, tap its emoji button (the heart icon on the keyboard's toolbar), then switch to the clipboard tab and tap the item you want. The icons are unlabelled and their order can change between Windows versions, so look for the clipboard symbol.
- Attach the Type Cover or a Bluetooth keyboard for a text-heavy session. Win+V and the arrow keys are quicker than tapping through a list with a pen.
Clipboard history holds up to 25 items and keeps text, HTML and bitmaps only, so ink strokes as ink and files you copy in File Explorer won't appear there. What Win+V actually opens covers the panel tab by tab.
What happens when you copy ink
Apps that support Windows Ink can copy selected strokes to the clipboard; in note apps you usually select ink with a lasso tool first. Microsoft's developer documentation describes the format: ink is stored in Ink Serialized Format (ISF), which can sit directly on the clipboard or inside a GIF image, so apps that don't understand ink can still show a picture.
What that means when you paste:
- Ink app to ink app: strokes can stay editable as ink when both apps support it.
- Ink app to Photoshop, Figma, Word's body text or a chat window: expect a flat picture, not editable strokes.
- Handwriting you need as typed text: use the app's own ink-to-text feature, or copy the text out of a screenshot instead. Copying text out of an image covers the built-in options.
If the ink matters, keep it in the app that created it and export a PNG or PDF when someone else needs it.
Screenshots with the pen
On Surface Pens that have a top button, Microsoft's Surface Pen guide lists a double-click of the top button as opening Snip & Sketch, the screen-snipping tool. You can change what the top button does in Pen & Windows Ink settings. Win+Shift+S opens the same snipping overlay from a keyboard.
Snipping Tool saves each capture to your Screenshots folder automatically unless you've turned that off, which is useful on a tablet: if you overwrite the clipboard, the file is still there. Putting a screenshot on the clipboard compares the capture methods.
Notes for designers on a tablet
- Figma's eyedropper: sampling colours from outside the Figma window is supported only on macOS. On Windows, in both the desktop app and the browser, the eyedropper (shortcut I) samples only from inside the canvas. Paste the reference image into the file first, then sample it.
- Reference images: dragging small items with a pen takes precision. Keeping references in a side window often works better than copying and pasting them one at a time; see keeping reference images beside your drawing app.
Clipboard managers on a touchscreen
Most clipboard managers are built around a keyboard shortcut or a mouse, so check how one opens before relying on it in tablet mode. Edge Drop, for example, opens its shelf when the mouse pointer rests at a screen edge, which a finger can't do. On a tablet you can open it by tapping its tray icon, or with its Global Toggle Shortcut (Alt+C by default) when a keyboard is attached, and tapping a card pastes it into the app you were using. If the shelf opens by accident when you swipe in from an edge, turn off Hover Activation; how to turn hover off and use only the hotkey has the steps, and stopping accidental edge opens on tablets explains why it happens.
FAQ
Why does the Surface Pen side button draw instead of right-clicking?
Some drawing and note apps use the side button for their own tools, or treat pen input as ink by default. The hold-and-tap right-click works in standard Windows apps; inside a drawing or note app, check that app's pen settings.
Can I paste with the pen alone?
Yes. Tap where you want to paste, hold the side button and tap the same spot, then choose Paste. With a finger, press and hold, then choose Paste.
Does copied ink sync to my phone or other PC?
Windows clipboard sync documents text only, so ink and pictures don't sync. Clipboard history across devices explains what does.
Related reading
- How to Disable Edge Swipes on a Windows 11 Tablet
- How to Enable Clipboard History in Windows 11
- How to Copy a Screenshot to the Clipboard in Windows 11
- How to Copy, Cut and Paste on Windows 11 (All Methods)
Sources
- How to use your Surface Pen (Microsoft Support) — tap to click, side button plus tap to right-click, top-button actions, erasing.
- Touch gestures for Windows (Microsoft Support) — press and hold for more commands.
- Use a pen with Windows (Microsoft Support) — Pen & Windows Ink settings location and shortcut button.
- Store and retrieve Windows Ink stroke data (Microsoft Learn) — ISF, GIF with embedded ink, copying strokes to the clipboard.
- Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — clipboard history limits and formats.
- Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots (Microsoft Support) — snips saved automatically to the Screenshots folder.
- Sample colors with the eyedropper tool (Figma Help) — sampling outside the canvas is macOS-only.
Khushi Yadav writes Edge Drop's workflow and design guides and is a B.Tech Computer Science Engineering student. Khushi's posts are checked against Microsoft's documentation and the Edge Drop fact sheet.
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