How to copy and paste on Chromebook

If you’re not interested in reading the more detailed explanations further down this page and just want a quick cheat sheet of all the different copy and paste methods on Chromebook, read the below list:

• Copy and paste on Chromebook touchpad: tap the touchpad with two fingers, select copy, move the cursor to where you want, tap the touchpad with two fingers, select paste.
  
• Select All on Chromebook keyboard: Ctrl + A
  
• Copy and paste on Chromebook keyboard: Ctrl + C (to copy) Ctrl + V (to paste).
• Copy and paste on Chromebook with a mouse: right-click then select copy and then paste from the context menu.
• Copy and paste on Chromebook using a touchscreen: double-tap, select copy, tap and hold, then select paste.
• Copy and paste on Chromebook using a touchscreen without formatting: Ctrl + Shift + V.
• Open Clipboard manager on Chromebook: Search + V
• Copy an image on Chromebook: double-tap / right click the image, select copy image or copy image address
• Copy a video on Chromebook: double-tap / right click the video, select either copy video URL / copy video URL at current time /copy embed code.

The most obvious way to copy and paste on a Chromebook is to use the good old trackpad. Simply:

• Highlight the text you want to copy by left-clicking with one finger and dragging with a second across the text. If it’s an image you wish to copy, continue below.
• Right-click on whatever it is you wish to copy.
• Click copy / copy image / copy image address (as appropriate) from the context menu which appears.
• Move your cursor wherever you want to insert the copied text/image.
• Right-click again.
• Click paste.

If you wish to use a mouse to copy & paste on a Chromebook, simply follow the steps laid out above but use the left-click and right-click mouse buttons instead.

The quickest way to copy and paste on a Chromebook is to use keyboard shortcuts, which are worth learning for the increased efficiency they bring in any work task. As below:

Pasting without formatting is very useful if you are copying content from an existing document/web page but want the formatting to be consistent with the document you are putting it into. Pasting without formatting excludes fonts, text size, color, spacing, and all other formatting.

You can either select the paste without formatting option from the context menu as above after you press right-click, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V.

If you have a Chromebook with touchscreen functionality, follow the steps below (this can be a bit tricky at first so give it a few attempts until you get it right):

• Double-tap above the text you wish to copy on the screen.
• Push the highlight handles until all the relevant text is selected.
• Select copy from context menu which should appear.
• Tap and then hold your finger at the point you wish to insert the text.
• Finally, select paste.

If you want to view the last five things you have copied, you can take a look at the Chromebook clipboard. This can be accessed as follows:

• Press the search key (to the left of your keyboard, it resembles a magnifying glass) + v on your keyboard.
• Using either the tab key or the arrow keys you can switch between the things you have copied.
• Press enter on your keyboard to select an item.
• You can delete an item by clicking the x icon next to it.

To copy video on Chromebook, simply follow the above steps to right-click on the video until you get to the context menu, then:

• Click copy video URL or copy embed code.
• Put the cursor where you want to paste the video.
• Press Ctrl + V on your keyboard.

If you’re only looking to share a section of a video, and don’t want to wish people to view the entire thing from the beginning but rather from a specific point:

• Press pause at the point of the video you wish the recipient to start viewing it.
• Right click the video in your chosen manner. 
• Select copy video URL at current time from the context menu.
• Place the cursor where you wish to paste the video.
• Press Ctrl + V on your keyboard.

If you want some extra functionality to your copy and paste, then you can download various extensions for Chromebook via the Chrome Web Store. The best of these are as follows:

• Clipboard History Pro lets you merge different copies from your clipboard together.
• Clipboard Manager retains the history of your clipboard, even after you restart your Chromebook.
• Clipper lets you arrange the things you have copied into separate lists.
• Copy As Plain Text better allows you to copy text without any formatting.
• MultiCopy Clipboard retains copied information indefinitely, no matter how much there is.