Copy information between files
You can copy or move information such as text and pictures between files and programs in Windows using a temporary storage space called the Clipboard. The Clipboard is not visible, so keep in mind that even though you use the Clipboard to copy and paste information between files, you will never actually see the Clipboard when you do so.
Conceptual illustration showing how text can be moved or copied to the Clipboard and pasted into other files
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In the file that you want to copy from, drag the mouse pointer to select the information you want to copy.
Text selected in Notepad
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Click the Edit menu, and then click Copy to copy the selected information to the Clipboard.
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In the file that you want to copy to, click the location where you want to insert the information you copied to the Clipboard.
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Click the Edit menu, and then click Paste.
The information you copied from the first file will be inserted from the Clipboard to the location you specified in the second file.
Notes
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You can copy any kind of information, including sound and pictures, in the same way. In Paint, for example, you can select a part of a picture and copy it to the Clipboard, and then paste it into another program that can display pictures. You can also copy and paste entire files. The easiest way to do this is by using the keyboard shortcuts CTRL+C (copy) and CTRL+V (paste).
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The Clipboard holds one block of information at a time. The next time you copy information to the Clipboard, the old contents of the Clipboard will be replaced by the new information you copied.
