Copy & paste is a very often used technique to transfer data from one place to another.
It can be used for text, files, folders, images and many more items.
Especially the text transfer works with nearly all applications.

Basic steps:

1. Select what you want to copy
2. Copy the selection to the clipboard (keyboard shortcut: Strg+C)
3. Select the place where the copied data shall appear
4. Paste the clipboard content (keyboard shortcut: Strg+V)

Copy & Paste text from a website into a text document

1. Select the text you want to copy (for example from this web page)
   There are many ways to select text:
   • double-click on a word to select it   (can’t be used for links because they will be opened by the first click)
   • triple-click on a paragraph you want to select  
   • click inside the text at the position where you want to start your selection and hold down the mouse button while moving the mouse to the end of the desired selection . Release the mouse button. You can add other text passages to the selection by pressing the Strg key and keeping it pressed while repeating the click, hold & move procedure.
   • click inside the text where you want to start your selection, press the shift key and keep it pressed while using the →↓↑← arrow keys to extend or reduce your selection
   • Select all: The keyboard shortcut Strg+A normally selects the whole page. Sometimes it’s necessary to click inside the text before you can use Strg+A.
2. Copy the selected text to the clipboard
   Alternative ways to copy:
   • Keyboard shortcut: press the key combination Strg+C (that’s the fastest way)
   • Context menu: right-click  on the selected text and click  Copy in the appearing context menu
   • Menu: Click Edit in the menu bar and click  Copy in the appearing menu
3. Open a text editor (for example  Applications >  Office >  AbiWord) and type some words.
   Select where you want to paste the clipboard content.
   Alternatives: insert or replace
   • Place the (blinking) text cursor where you want to insert the text (use the mouse or the arrow keys)
   • Select text you want to replace with the clipboard content
4. Paste the clipboard content
   • Keyboard shortcut: Strg+V
   • Context Menu: rigt-click  where you want to insert the clipboard content and click  Paste
   • Menu: Edit >  Paste

Cut¶

To cut a selection means to delete and copy it with one command:  Cut (keyboard shortcut: Strg+X).
It’s very useful if you want to move a text passage inside a document.
You can’t cut anything in documents where you can’t delete – for example the most web pages.

Move a text passage

1. Activate the window of our previously created text document
2. Select a text passage to move
3. Cut the text passage. Alternative ways:
   • Use the keyboard shortcut Strg+X
   • Right-click  on the selected text and click  Cut in the appearing context menu
   • Click Edit in the menu bar and click  Cut in the appearing menu
4. Select where you want to paste the text passage
5. Paste the text passage

Second Clipboard¶

Linux systems usually provide a second clipboard. Every time text is selected, it is automatically copied to this second clipboard. The content of the second clipboard can be pasted by using the middle-click 
Unfortunately not all applications support the second clipboard. But when it is supported, it’s a very fast way to copy & paste text because only two steps are necessary:

1. Select the text to copy
2. middle-click  where you want to paste the text

If you don’t have a middle-button on your mouse, you can use a simultanous-click  on the left and right mouse button instead. But it’s not easy to click really simultanously …