Cut, Copy and Paste

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Among the most common text editing operations are cutting, copying, and pasting. CKEditor not only supports these operations but also makes it possible to affect the formatting of the pasted text and even paste a Microsoft Word-formatted fragment.

Important notice: Because the cut, copy and paste functions need an access to the clipboard of your operating system, some Internet browsers either block it when called from CKEditor toolbar, or ask you to explicitly agree to that. Should accessing the clipboard by clicking the respective cut, copy and paste buttons from CKEditor toolbar or context menu be blocked, you can always perform these operations with keyboard shortcuts.


Cut

To cut a text fragment, first you need to select it. When the text is selected, you can cut it using one of the following methods:

  • Press the Cut button on the toolbar.
  • Open the CKEditor context menu for the selected element, pressing the right mouse button, and choose the Cut command.
  • Use the Ctrl+X combination on your keyboard. Note this method works also when the browser blocks CKEditor toolbar's access to the clipboard, so this is the most reliable way.


Copy

To copy a text fragment, first you need to select it. When the text is selected, you can copy it using one of the following methods:

  • Press the Copy button on the toolbar.
  • Open the CKEditor context menu for the selected element, pressing the right mouse button, and choose the Copy command.
  • Use the Ctrl+C combination on your keyboard. Note this method works also when the browser blocks CKEditor toolbar's access to the clipboard, so this is the most reliable way.


Paste

To paste a text fragment, first you need to cut it or copy from another source. Depending on the security settings of your browser, you may either paste directly from the clipboard or use CKEditor Paste dialog window.

When the text is in the clipboard, you can paste it using one of the following methods:

  • Press the Paste button on the toolbar.
  • Open the CKEditor context menu for the selected element, pressing the right mouse button, and choose the Paste command.
  • Use the Ctrl+V combination on your keyboard. Note this method works also when the browser blocks CKEditor toolbar's access to the clipboard, so this is the most reliable way.

If direct access to clipboard is blocked, you will be asked to paste the text into the Paste dialog window using the Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut.

Paste dialog window of CKEditor
Paste dialog window of CKEditor


Paste from Word

CKEditor allows you to preserve basic formatting when you paste a text fragment from Microsoft Word. To achieve this, copy the text in a Word document and paste it, using one of the following methods:

  • Press the Paste from Word button on the toolbar.
  • Use the Ctrl+V combination on your keyboard. Note this method works also when the browser blocks CKEditor toolbar's access to the clipboard, so this is the most reliable way.


Paste as plain text

If you want to paste an already formatted text, but without preserving the formatting, you can paste it as plain text. To achieve this, copy the formatted text and press the Paste as plain text button on the toolbar. If the browser blocks CKEditor toolbar's access to the clipboard, a Paste as Plain Text dialog window will appear and you will be asked to paste the fragment into the text box using the Ctrl+V keyboard shortcut.

Paste as Plain Text dialog window of CKEditor
Paste as Plain Text dialog window of CKEditor


Once pasted into the document, the text will lose all its formatting and you will be able to style it using CKEditor options.