Cut, Copy and Paste
In this lesson, you will learn:
Cut, Copy and Paste
These techniques involve cutting or copying an object, then pasting it at the new location. For the Drag and Drop techniques to work, both the object you want to copy or move and its destination must be visible on the desktop. This is easy in Window Explorer's dual pane window, but what if you're working inside of a folder window on the desktop and the destination is a folder you either don't have open yet or can't see because it is buried beneath other folders or in a list on the Taskbar?
To copy or move files in this situation, use the Cut, Copy or Paste techniques. If the destination cannot be seen or is not readily accessible for a drag and drop, use the Cut, Copy and Paste method. After you cut or copy the object, it is placed on the Clipboard, a hidden 'scratchpad' area, and is then called back for pasting into the document, folder or other file. It will remain on the clipboard until the program is closed, so there is no hurry.
How it works
- Cutting removes it from the original location, placing a copy on the clipboard.
- Copy places a copy on the Clipboard and leaves the original intact.
Once a file is copied or cut, it can be restored even if other items are on the Clipboard and several operations are carried out at once. After the item is on the clipboard, you can scan through drives or directories until you find the destination, and then paste it. Pasting does not remove it from the Clipboard, so the operation can be rolled back by re-pasting in the original position if necessary.
Here'show to copy and move files with Cut, Copy and Paste.
- Open the Personal 1 folder to display its contents.
- Right click the folder and choose either Cut (to move it) or Copy (to copy it).
- Locate any destination folder you want to copy or move the file to.
- Right click on the folder and choose Paste from the menu
When you are done, undo your changes by selecting Edit > Undo from the menu or press CTL z to undo the changes.
In this example Text1.txt can be found in the folder. In the picture the address bar shows A:\ Personal\Personal2\Personal3 folder. This is the "Path" taken to find it. Your folders will have your files and the address bar shows the path and the source path (shown above) is different than the destination path (shown below).
The file is pasted to the destination folder. Some users prefer these techniques over Drag and Drop. When you Drag and Drop, you must first prepare the destination or "Set the Stage" in advance by making sure you can see the source files AND the destination drive or folder. With Cut and Paste, you work one step at a time. All of these methods work in Windows Explorer and My Computer, and you can combine both methods. For example, you might cut or copy files or pieces of files from Windows Explorer, then jump to a folder on the desktop or floppy and paste them in. Cut, Copy and Paste are also available from the Edit Menu.
Note: Keyboard shortcuts really save time !
Control A is 'select all', Control X is 'Cut', Control C is 'Copy' and Control V is 'Paste'.
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