OverviewThe Windows Clipboard
The Windows clipboard is a storage area for items the have been cut or copied. Whenever you cut or copy something, it is automatically placed in the clipboard for you. You can then "paste" a copy of the item from the clipboard to anywhere you want.
Note: If you've ever cut, copied or pasted anything in a Windows application, you've already used the Windows clipboard.
Technically, the clipboard is just a bit of physical memory (i.e. RAM) that has been set aside to hold any stuff that you might happen to copy or cut. It can only hold one item at a time, so when you cut or copy something, it replaces anything that is already in the clipboard.
You can keep pasting the contents of the clipboard as often as you like. Anything you put in the clipboard will remain there until you overwrite the contents by cutting or copying something else into the clipboard. (Or until you empty the clipboard by rebooting Windows.)
Note: You can cut, copy and paste items from one place to another in the same application, or even to a different application altogether.
There are three clipboard functions that can be performed in virtually all Windows applications: cut, copy and paste.
When you cut something, it is removed from its current location, and placed in the Windows clipboard.
Tip: The easiest way to cut something is by selecting it and pressing Ctrl+X on your keyboard. You can also right-click on it and select Cut from the context menu.
When you copy something, it remains in its current location, and a duplicate of it is placed in the Windows clipboard.
Tip: The easiest way to copy something is by selecting it and pressing Ctrl+C on your keyboard. You can also right-click on it and select Copy from the context menu.
When you paste something, it is copied "back" from the Windows clipboard to the location you have selected. (This assumes that the location you're pasting to is able to hold whatever is on the clipboard; you can't paste an MPEG video into a text editor, for instance, because the text editor is made to hold text, and not video files.)
If you have something selected at the destination when you paste, the clipboard contents will replace that stuff, so be careful not to overwrite things by mistake. For example, if you have a bunch of text selected and you paste the word "bamboozled" in from the clipboard, the text you had selected will be replaced by the word "bamboozled."
You can keep pasting copies of the clipboard contents as long as you want. In fact, pasting is a great way to make multiple copies of something. Just cut or copy an item into the clipboard, and then paste it back as many times as you want.
Tip: The easiest way to paste is by pressing Ctrl+V on your keyboard. You can also right-click and select Paste from the context menu.
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