Clipboard Basics

Lesson 10: Clipboard: Cut, Copy, Paste & Undo

S M L XL FS | Slo Reg Fast 2x | Bookmark

In Lesson 10, we are going to learn how to use the clipboard, focusing on the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in Microsoft Word. We will walk through copying text to the clipboard, pasting it into another part of the document, and the difference between Cut and Copy. I will also show you how to use Undo and Redo to reverse your actions. We will discuss where to find these clipboard commands on the ribbon, and briefly mention the Paste Special and Format Painter options, which we will cover in more detail later.

Navigation

Prev: Lesson 09
Next: Lesson 11

Keywords

TechHelp Word, clipboard, cut copy paste, undo redo, copy text, cut text, paste from clipboard, select text with mouse, quick toolbar, clipboard group, ribbon, paste button, paste special, difference between cut and copy, redo action, undo action

Subscribe to Clipboard Basics
Get notifications when this page is updated

Transcript

In Lesson 10, we are going to learn how to use the clipboard. We are going to learn about cut, copy, and paste. We are also going to learn about undo and redo.

Now, I am almost done with my letter. I would like to put a postscript down at the bottom. So I am going to take my mouse and scroll down to the bottom of the letter. Then, right down here, I am going to press Enter for a blank line. I am going to type in my postscript. So I will type in PS.

By the way, Mr. Schwartzenhofer. Now, I do not really want to type in Schwartzenhofer again. It is a big long name, and I keep spelling it wrong. So would it not be nice if there was a way I could copy Schwartzenhofer from where it is typed in already in my document and then paste it down here at the bottom?

So let us go back up to the top of the document and find Schwartzenhofer. Here it is right here. Let us select this text using the mouse. I will click right in front of Schwartzenhofer, hold my mouse button down, and select the entire name right about there.

Now that I have it selected, come up to the ribbon and find the clipboard group, right here to the left of the font group. There are a couple of buttons to get familiar with. The first one is Cut, then Copy. Do not worry about this guy right here in the Format Painter. We will talk about him later. Right over here is the Paste button.

Now, the Paste button actually has two parts to it. There is the button up top that looks like a clipboard. Then there are more options down here, which, if you click on that, opens up a little submenu. We are not going to worry about that right now. Paste Special is a bit of an advanced topic.

For now, what I would like to do is click on the Copy button. When you click on the Copy button, nothing appears to happen. But what really happened in the background was the word Schwartzenhofer was copied to something called the clipboard.

What is the clipboard? The clipboard is a little magical happy place, somewhere in the computer's memory, that stores information for you. You can copy things to the clipboard and then paste them in different sections of your document.

For example, I just copied Schwartzenhofer to the clipboard. Now let us scroll back down to the bottom of our document. I will click right here where I stopped before, and then I will paste Schwartzenhofer right here. I will click right on the clipboard itself, not on the word Paste. Just click on the clipboard, and there we go. Schwartzenhofer was copied to the clipboard a minute ago. Now I just pasted it from the clipboard into my document.

Now, what is the difference between Cut and Copy? Remember, there are two different buttons up here. There is Cut, and there is Copy. Cut removes the original, whereas Copy leaves it there.

For example, let us say I wanted to take Richard and move it after the word Rost. I could select Richard using the mouse, cut it from its original location with the Cut button, click after the word Rost, hit the space bar to put a space in there, and then paste it in. See that? That is Cut and Paste versus Copy and Paste, which leaves the original alone. That is what we did with Mr. Schwartzenhofer.

You can think of the difference between Copy and Cut as the difference between a photocopier and a pair of scissors. If there is a picture in the newspaper that you want to put in your Word document and you photocopy it, you can then use the copy in your document. However, if you take a pair of scissors to the newspaper and cut it out, you just destroy your original. So that is Copy versus Cut.

Now, I have just decided that I do not want to have my name Rost Richard. I want to put that back the way it was. But instead of going through all those steps again, would it not be nice if I could just undo or erase the steps that I just performed?

Microsoft Word and a lot of applications, including Excel and PowerPoint, have a button called Undo. It is right up here on the Quick Toolbar. There is Undo. Right now it says Undo Paste because the last operation was Paste. If I click on Undo Paste, it gets rid of the last action, which is pasting my name in. If I click again, it gets rid of that little space that I typed in. If I click a third time, it gets rid of the Cut operation. So it keeps a history of the last couple of things that you have done in case you decide that you have made a mistake. That is what the Undo button does.

Just to the right is another button that is called Redo. Redo goes the other way. It basically undoes the Undo button. If you decide now that you want to put that stuff back, click on the Redo button. See, Redo, Redo, Redo, and so on. I will use the Undo button and go back to there. So that is Undo and then Redo.

Now I will finish my sentence down here.

By the way, Mr. Schwartzenhofer, our technical support department is open 24 hours.

Intro

Quiz

Q1. What is the main purpose of the clipboard in Microsoft Word?
A. To temporarily store information that can be copied and pasted in a document
B. To change the fonts and colors of selected text
C. To save the document to your hard drive
D. To print the document

Q2. What happens when you click the Copy button with text selected in Microsoft Word?
A. The selected text is copied to the clipboard and remains in its original place
B. The selected text is deleted from the document and placed on the clipboard
C. The selected text is formatted with bold style
D. The entire document is copied into a new file

Q3. Where is the Clipboard group located on the Microsoft Word ribbon?
A. To the left of the Font group
B. To the right of the Insert group
C. Below the Quick Toolbar
D. In the Review tab only

Q4. What does the Cut button do?
A. Removes the selected text and places it on the clipboard
B. Makes the selected text bold
C. Copies the selected text to the clipboard while leaving it in place
D. Changes the font size of selected text

Q5. What is the key difference between Cut and Copy?
A. Cut removes the original text; Copy leaves it in place
B. Copy removes the original text; Cut leaves it in place
C. Cut and Copy both remove text, but Copy duplicates it elsewhere
D. Cut and Copy both duplicate text without removing anything

Q6. What analogy is used in the lesson to explain the difference between Copy and Cut?
A. Photocopier vs. scissors
B. Pen vs. pencil
C. Printer vs. scanner
D. Knife vs. fork

Q7. What does the Paste button do in Microsoft Word?
A. Inserts the last item copied or cut from the clipboard at the cursor location
B. Saves the document
C. Deletes the selected text
D. Opens the Print dialog

Q8. What is the function of the Undo button on the Quick Toolbar?
A. Reverses the last action(s) you performed
B. Redoes an action you have undone
C. Deletes the document
D. Formats the text as italic

Q9. What does the Redo button do?
A. Re-performs the last action that was undone with Undo
B. Erases the entire document
C. Highlights the text in yellow
D. Puts the text in uppercase

Q10. If you accidentally cut and pasted text in the wrong spot, what should you do?
A. Click Undo on the Quick Toolbar
B. Click Save As and create a new document
C. Manually retype the original text
D. Print the document immediately

Answers: 1-A; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-A; 9-A; 10-A

DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.

Summary

Today's video from Word Learning Zone covers how to use the clipboard in Microsoft Word, focusing on the essential features of cutting, copying, and pasting text. We will also look at how to use the Undo and Redo functions to easily correct mistakes as you work on your document.

Let me use a practical example. Let's say I am almost finished writing a letter and I want to add a postscript at the bottom. To do this, I scroll down to the end of my letter, press Enter to add a blank line, and type in "PS." Now, I want to mention someone named Mr. Schwartzenhofer in my postscript. Since "Schwartzenhofer" has already been typed elsewhere in the document and is difficult to spell correctly each time, it would save time and ensure accuracy to simply copy it from the existing text and paste it down in the postscript instead of retyping it.

So I move back up to where "Schwartzenhofer" appears in my letter. I select the name using the mouse, highlighting the whole word. With the text selected, I focus on the Clipboard group on the Word ribbon, which is located to the left of the Font group. Here you'll find the Cut and Copy buttons, as well as Paste. Ignore Format Painter for now, as we will discuss that feature another time. The Paste button also has additional options, but for now, we will use the basic function.

I use the Copy button to place "Schwartzenhofer" on the clipboard. Although nothing appears to happen immediately, Word has actually made a copy of the selected text and stored it in an area called the clipboard. The clipboard is a special part of the computer's memory that temporarily holds information you want to move or reuse.

With "Schwartzenhofer" now saved to the clipboard, I scroll back down to where I want it in the letter and use the Paste button to insert the name in the desired location. This saves time and keeps me from having to type that long and complicated name again.

It is important to understand the difference between the Cut and Copy commands. Cut removes the original selection from where it was and moves it to the clipboard. Copy keeps the original text where it is, but also places a copy on the clipboard. For example, if I want to move my first name, "Richard," to a different location in the document, I select it, use the Cut command, then move my cursor to where I want it, perhaps after "Rost," type a space, and then use Paste. This transfers "Richard" without leaving a duplicate behind. In contrast, Copy and Paste would leave the original "Richard" intact.

To help illustrate the concept, think of Copy like using a photocopier: you make a duplicate and keep both versions. Cut is more like using scissors: you remove the original and place it somewhere else.

Sometimes after editing, you may change your mind and want to reverse recent actions. This is where Undo and Redo come in handy. Word keeps a history of your actions. The Undo button is located on the Quick Access Toolbar at the top. Using Undo, you can step back one action at a time. For instance, Undo will first remove the last pasted text, then the last typed space, then even recover something you just cut. Undo lets you reverse your last several actions in the order they were performed.

The Redo button sits next to Undo. Redo allows you to reapply actions that you just undid. If you use Undo too many times and want to reverse that, Redo puts those changes back.

With my corrections made, I can now finish my letter. For example, I might complete my postscript with, "By the way, Mr. Schwartzenhofer, our technical support department is open 24 hours."

These clipboard and editing tools are fundamental in making your work in Word more efficient and less frustrating, especially as you edit and refine your documents.

You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends.

Topic List

Using the clipboard in Word
Cut, copy, and paste functions
Selecting text with the mouse
Copying text to the clipboard
Pasting text from the clipboard
Difference between cut and copy
Undo and redo actions
Using the Undo button
Using the Redo button

Article

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the clipboard features in Microsoft Word and other Office applications. The clipboard is a space in your computer's memory where information can be held temporarily while you move it or copy it to another place. By understanding how to use the clipboard, you can save time and avoid unnecessary typing, especially with information you want to move or reuse in your documents.

Suppose you are working on a letter and want to add a postscript to the bottom. You scroll to the end of the document, press Enter to create a blank line, and then type in "PS." Now, imagine you want to mention someone with a difficult name, such as Schwartzenhofer. Instead of typing that name again, especially if you tend to spell it incorrectly, you can use the clipboard to copy it from where it already appears in your document and paste it in the new location.

To do this, find where Schwartzenhofer appears earlier in your document. Use your mouse to select the name by clicking just before the first letter, holding down the mouse button, and dragging to the end of the name. Once the text is selected, look up to the ribbon at the top of the screen. In the Clipboard group, you will see the Copy and Cut buttons. When you click Copy, nothing visibly happens in your document, but Word copies the selected text to the clipboard in the computer's memory.

Next, scroll back down to where you want to place the copied name. Click where you want the name to go and then click the Paste button in the Clipboard group. The name is inserted right where your cursor is. In this way, you can easily reuse text without retyping it.

You should also understand the difference between Cut and Copy. The Cut button removes the selected text from its original location and places it on the clipboard, while Copy leaves the original text in place and just puts a copy on the clipboard. For example, if you want to move a word such as Richard to a different spot, select it, click Cut, go to the new location, and click Paste. The word disappears from the old location and appears in the new one. Think of Copy as making a photocopy you can use elsewhere, and Cut as using scissors to remove the original and glue it somewhere else.

Sometimes, after moving or copying text, you might want to reverse your last steps. Microsoft Word and other Office applications have an Undo button, usually found at the top left of the window in the Quick Access Toolbar. The Undo button cancels your last action, for example, removing a pasted word or undoing a Cut. Each click of the Undo button undoes another previous action, allowing you to backtrack several steps if needed. If you realize you actually want to keep something you just undid, the Redo button lets you reverse the undo and restore the action. Undo and Redo are very useful for experimenting and correcting mistakes without worry.

With these clipboard tools and the Undo and Redo features, you can work more efficiently in your documents. Remember that Copy keeps the original, Cut moves it, Paste inserts the clipboard contents, Undo reverses actions, and Redo brings them back. These basic commands are available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and many other programs, making them essential skills for any computer user.

For instance, in your letter example, after using the clipboard to move or copy text, you can finish your postscript. Now your letter might read: "By the way, Mr. Schwartzenhofer, our technical support department is open 24 hours." By practicing these techniques, you will become much faster at editing and managing content in your documents.

Primary Topics

clipboard operations, cut and copy difference, paste actions, undo, redo, text selection, basic document editing

Secondary Topics

format painter introduction, paste special mention