The clipboard is used to temporarily store any information you want to copy or move from one place to another. Although in many programs the copy and paste functions are accessible via the mouse's right-click submenu, they are also available via keyboard shortcuts. These shortcuts date from the days of computer programming before the mouse was commonplace and are still useful today. Copy and paste are just two of the many functions that can be used by combining the "Ctrl," or "Control," key and a letter on the keyboard.
Instructions
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Step 1
Open the program that you want to copy from. Once the required file has loaded choose what you want to copy by highlighting it. You can copy text, images or a combination of both.
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Step 2
Press the "Ctrl" key and "C" at the same time. This is often written as "Ctrl+C." Your selection is copied to the clipboard and is thus available to any other program.
Step 3
Open the program you wish to paste the selection into. With your mouse place the cursor where you want the selection to appear then press "Ctrl" and the "V" key.