You have just started a new work experience in which you have to use word processing programs on a daily basis, but you are not much of a technology expert. Specifically, you should be working on some documents in Word where you are required to copy and paste parts of text and you are afraid of messing up, so you would need a simple and immediate guide that explains how to do it.
Don’t worry: if you need to know how to copy and paste in Word , that’s what I’m here for! In this tutorial, in fact, I will illustrate in the clearest possible way the ways to copy and paste on Word, so that you too can be able to implement this simple and useful action. For many it may seem like a trivial thing, but if you are not very familiar with technology and the program, I know well that it can instead be a non-obvious operation.
Forget any prejudice, start reading this tutorial and you will see that thanks to my indications you will be able in no time to master the art of copy and paste in Word not only on PC and Mac, but also on smartphones and tablets. Happy reading and good work!
Index
- How do you copy and paste in Word
- How to copy and paste in Word for PC
- How to copy and paste in Word Online
- How to copy and paste in the Word app
- How to copy and paste PDF to Word
- How to copy and paste from Excel to Word
- Word copy and paste doesn’t work
How do you copy and paste in Word
Before analyzing some peculiar functions of the action under consideration, let’s see together the different basic procedures for copying and pasting on Word in the various versions of Microsoft’s word processor.
How to copy and paste in Word for PC
First let’s see how to copy and paste on Word for PC and Mac , starting therefore from the basics of the program and analyzing the steps to be carried out in its classic desktop version (in case you need it, I explained how to download it in my dedicated tutorial . ).
First, you need to select the part of the text you intend to copy . To do this, hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor over the text you wish to copy so that it is highlighted by a gray selection area . Once this is done, move the cursor over the gray selection area and click on it with the right mouse button . Doing so opens a box containing a series of options and actions that can be performed on the selected text. At this point, click on the Copy item to copy the previously selected part of the text.
Once this is done, place the cursor on the page of the Word document and click with the right mouse button in the point where you want to paste what was copied. Doing so opens once again a box containing the various operations that can be performed. Compared to the previous phase, inside the opened pane it is now possible to display a section called Paste Options , in which there are four different icons that allow you to perform four different paste modes respectively: Keep original formatting , with which you can paste the copied text maintaining its original format; Merge Formatting, with which you can paste the copied text so that it merges and conforms to the format of the target text; Image , with which you can go to paste the text written in image format; Keep text only , with which you can paste the copied text without any kind of special formatting. So choose one of the actions I have listed for you and click on the corresponding icon to paste the copied text.
The procedure I have just shown you can be completed in the same way also by acting directly on the items on the Home tab of the Word ribbon. Once you have selected the text you can in fact copy and paste this by clicking first on the Copy icon and then on the Paste icon , both present in the Clipboard section at the top left of the Home tab.
As an alternative to the procedure analyzed, you can take advantage of the copy and paste function in an even faster and more immediate way using convenient shortcuts and keyboard key combinations: after selecting the text to copy (just hold down Shift and use the directional arrows to highlight how much of your interest), press Ctrl + C (or cmd + c on Mac) on the keyboard to perform the copy action, then press Ctrl + V (or cmd + v on Mac) to instantly paste what you copied in the place where you have positioned the cursor.
How to copy and paste in Word Online
Copying and pasting is a basic action, which can also be performed in the free Web version of Word Online , which you can access via browser using your Microsoft account credentials . The procedure is similar to that seen previously, albeit with some differences caused by the limited functions of the Web version compared to the desktop version of the program. Let’s see together the basic steps to follow.
Once you have opened the Word document in the online version (if the document you are interested in is not already on OneDrive , you can upload it by clicking on the icon with the up arrow ), just select the part of the text you want to copy by dragging the cursor and holding down the left mouse button , until the text is also in this case highlighted by a gray selection area . Alternatively you can select the text with the keyboard as explained above.
After selecting the text to copy, click with the right mouse button on the gray selection area or alternatively click on the clipboard icon at the top left , located in the Home tab of the ribbon. In both cases you will have access to a number of actions that can be performed on the selected text, including Copy and Paste .
If to copy the selected text you just need to click on the Copy item , to paste what you have copied you will have to use the shortcut keys instead , which you can learn by clicking on the Paste item . Then press on the keyboard Ctrl + V (or cmd + v on Mac) to paste the copied text in a manner consistent with the formatting or Ctrl + Shift + V (or cmd + shift + v on Mac) to paste only the text without any type of formatting.
How to copy and paste in the Word app
The Word app for smartphones and tablets makes it easy to copy and paste parts of text just like in the desktop version of the program. The application is available on Android (also on alternative stores ) and on iOS / iPadOS , free of charge on all devices with dimensions up to 10.1 “(otherwise it requires a subscription to Microsoft 365, with prices from 7 euros / month).
If you find yourself using the Word app from your smartphone , after opening the document through the application and after pressing the icon dedicated to the Edit function represented by a pencil, first select the text you wish to copy. To do this, simply hold down the device screen with a finger and select the text to be copied by moving the appropriate cursors represented by two blue arrows that can be dragged to highlight the selection area.
Once this is done, above the selection area highlighted in gray, a lateral scrolling string appears containing the operations that can be performed on the selected text. He therefore clicks on the icon represented by two overlapping sheets, one white and one written, which represents the Copy action , to copy the content of the previously selected text.
At this point you just have to hold down the screen with your finger at the point where you want to paste what was copied. By doing so, the side scrolling string appears again containing the shortcuts of the executable actions. In this case, therefore, tap on the icon represented by a folder overlaid by a white sheet that represents the Paste action to immediately and automatically paste what was previously copied.
If you want to have full control of the formatting of the copied text you are about to paste, tap the small arrow on the side of the Paste icon to open the Paste drop-down menu . Within this menu there are different ways of executing the Paste action : Paste , with which you can simply paste the copied text as we have seen before; Keep original formatting , with which you can go to paste keeping the source format of the copied text; Keep text only , with which you can make sure that only the copied text is pasted without any kind of formatting;Paste format , with which you can restore the same format as the previously copied text; Image , with which you can paste text as an image.
If, on the other hand, you find yourself using the Word app from a tablet , you can follow without any problem the same instructions that I have just shown you, bearing in mind that the only difference that can be found is the fact that the options and items we have talked about they are located in the top menu as on PC.
How to copy and paste PDF to Word
If you want to copy parts of text from a PDF document and paste it all into a Word document , you have to pay attention to the formatting of the text.
The procedure for copying a text from a PDF document is not complex and follows the logic that we have analyzed in the previous paragraphs. In fact, you just need to open the PDF document with a special program to read PDF , such as Adobe Acrobat Reader DC , select the part of the text you want to copy by dragging the cursor over it and holding down the left mouse button until the text appears highlighted by a blue selection area , click with the right mouse button on the selected area and then click on Copy or press Ctrl + C (or cmd + c directly on the keyboardyour Mac).
Once this is done, open the Word document in which you intend to paste the text copied from the PDF file and click on the Paste button , present in the Clipboard section of the Home tab of the ribbon, or press Ctrl + V (or cmd + v on Mac ) to directly paste what was copied.
Pay attention to this procedure! Following the instructions I just gave you, the text copied from the PDF file is in fact pasted into the Word document maintaining the original formatting. If you want to correct the formatting of the copied text to make it consistent with the formatting of the Word document in which to insert it, right-click on the document page, then click on the Paste Options and select Merge formatting or Keep only . text . By doing so, the copied text will untie itself from the starting formatting of the PDF format to conform to the formatting of the text already present on the Word document.
If you encounter text formatting problems only later and after pasting everything on the Word document, no problem! There is a simple method to remedy this: select the correct formatting Word document text, then click the Format Painter button , represented by a brush and present in the Clipboard section of the Home tab of the ribbon, and select the pasted text from the PDF file that has incorrect formatting, so that the format of this is going to conform perfectly to the content of the Word document.
How to copy and paste from Excel to Word
In the event that you have to bring elements present in an Excel file to a Word document , you can do it safely using the Copy to Excel option and then using the Paste in Word option.
Specifically, you can copy and paste graphics , tables and data that have been created in Excel into Word. Let’s see together the quickest and simplest steps possible to do this.
To copy a chart, table or Excel data, select the items by clicking on the chart, table and data, right-click on them , then click Copy or press Ctrl + C directly on the keyboard (or cmd + c on Mac).
Once this is done, open your Word document, click where you want to paste the item copied from Excel and press Ctrl + V (or cmd + v on Mac) on your keyboard. Once the element has been pasted, click on the Paste Options button , which appears next to it, to view the corrective actions that can be taken to change the formatting of the chart, table or copied data so that it adapts to the layout of the destination Word document.
In case you have pasted a chart copied from Excel to Word, with the Paste Options button you can go to change the formatting of this by selecting between Use target theme and embed workbook , Keep original formatting and embed workbook , Use target theme and link data , Keep original formatting and link data and Image .
If, on the other hand, you have pasted a table copied from Excel into Word, with the Paste Options button you can change the formatting of this by selecting between Keep original formatting , Use destination styles , Link and keep original formatting , Link and use styles of target , Image , and Keep Text Only .
In case you have lastly pasted data copied from Excel to Word, with the Paste Options key you can change the formatting of this by selecting between Keep original formatting , Merge formatting , Link and keep original formatting , Link and merge formatting , Image and Keep text only .
Word copy and paste doesn’t work
After reading this tutorial you tried to copy and paste in Word but something went wrong. In some cases it could unfortunately happen that the action in question presents problems. Remove from your vocabulary the phrase I can’t copy and paste in Word and let’s see together how to restore the use of the copy and paste function in a few clicks.
The main common problem is constituted by the fact that the copy and paste function does not respond to the commands given, either through the use of the mouse and the items present in the program interface or through the use of hotkey combinations.
In the event of a similar situation, first try to restart the device in which you are using Word to allow you to restore all the corrupted functions. Once the device starts up again, try opening Word and check if the copy and paste action is back to working normally. In most cases it is sufficient to perform this simple action.
If that doesn’t work, make sure your device’s operating system is up to date . This unfortunate situation could be caused by problems related to the operating system; therefore, check if there are any updates to be made to ensure that there is no longer any conflict between the version of the device’s operating system and the version of Word installed.
It may seem trivial, but in some cases the non-functioning of the copy and paste action could be linked to problems concerning external peripherals such as the keyboard and mouse of the device you are using. So try to disconnect and reconnect the keyboard and mouse and check if these peripherals work correctly or not within other programs on the device. Depending on the positive or negative feedback, you will thus be able to understand if the problem is related to the Word program or to the peripherals.
In the event that you were not able to resolve the non-functioning of the copy and paste action with any of the basic remedies that I have indicated, I invite you to contact Microsoft Technical Support directly in the appropriate official portal , which will be able to specifically evaluate the your problem and will be able to find a solution tailored to your needs.
