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Using the Clipboard
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Using the Clipboard

Philip Rodrigues

Very often, it's useful to move some text, or an object in a program, from one place to another. It's also very common to need to duplicate some text, for example, if you're typing the same thing several times. The system used for doing this is known as the clipboard. There are two slightly different ways to use this system, known technically as the “selection” and the “clipboard”. We'll look at them separately:

The Selection

This method uses the mouse to copy text from one place to another. The method is:

  1. Select the text you want to copy.

  2. Click the middle mouse button at the place you want the text to be copied to. This can be in the same program as you copied the text from, or in another program entirely.

If you have three buttons on your mouse, this is easy, but if not, all is not lost! If you have only two buttons, try clicking them both at the same time instead of the middle mouse button.

The Clipboard

With this method, you can copy text, or “cut” it (that is, remove it from one place and move it to another). You can use either the mouse and the menu entries, or the keyboard with this method. I'll list both ways, with the menu entry to use, followed by the keyboard shortcut which will do the same thing, like this:

Edit->Cut (Ctrl+X)

Moving (“Cutting”) Text

  1. Select the text you want to cut.

  2. From the menu, select Edit->Cut (Ctrl+X), and the text will be removed from its current location.

  3. Position the text cursor at the point you want to insert the text. This can be in the same application you got the text from, or another application entirely. Select Edit->Paste (Ctrl+V), and the text will appear at the point where you placed the cursor.

Copying text from one place to another is very similar:

Copying Text

  1. Select the text you want to copy.

  2. From the menu, select Edit->Copy (Ctrl+C), and the text will be copied in the clipboard.

  3. Position the text cursor at the point you want to insert the text. This can be in the same application you got the text from, or another application entirely. Select Edit->Paste (Ctrl+V)

More Advanced Clipboard Use

The instructions above describe the default clipboard behavior. The Klipper application, which you can add as an applet in the panel (see the section called “Configuring Kicker for instructions on how to do this), provides some useful clipboard-related features, like a clipboard history, and the ability to change the behavior of the clipboard and selection. Take a look at the Klipper Handbook for more information.

Related Information

  • You can find more information about Kicker, the KDE Panel, in KHelpCenter or by entering help:/kicker in Konqueror's Location bar.

  • The Klipper Handbook has information about the advanced clipboard management features in KDE. You can read it in KHelpCenter or by entering help:/klipper in Konqueror's Location bar.

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