Cut, copy, and paste are actions commonly performed within and between applications: getting an address from a message on a map, moving an image from an email to a document, or simply transferring text from one end of a note to another. . But while I've known how to cut, copy, and paste on a laptop or desktop forever, well, at first I wasn't so sure how to do it on my Android phone.
In fact, cutting, copying, sharing, or pasting on Android is pretty easy, no matter what app you're in or what you're trying to move. Here's how to do it.
Note: I tested these techniques on a Google Pixel 8 running Android 14 and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 running Android 14 and One UI 6.0.
Select, copy and share text
The process for selecting text on the screen, whether editable text (such as on a form) or non-editable text (such as on a web page), is the same in most scenarios:
- Press and hold a word until it is selected.
- Drag the handles at each end of the selection if you want to include more words.
- Tap Select all in the pop-up bar above the selection to select all the text in the section.
In some apps (like Google Keep), you can also double-tap a word to select it, instead of holding down. You may find this easier if the app you are using supports it. (Gmail, for example, doesn't do this.)
However you do it, once you select your text, you'll get a list of options that appear above the selection.
- Tap Copy to copy the text to the keyboard, leaving the original text in place.
- Tap Cut to move the text to the clipboard, deleting the original text. (You can only do this in a field or form where the text is editable.)
Android actually has a neat trick: if there's text on the clipboard when you open the on-screen keyboard, you'll see that text ready to paste right above the keys; Simply tap the text to paste it at the current cursor position. (This works on Google's default Gboard keyboard, the Samsung keyboard, and might work in other keyboard apps as well.)
- To paste the text, press and hold your finger where you want to place the text, and then choose Paste in the pop-up menu when it appears.
- Tap Share send the text directly to another application; For example, copying a website address and pasting it into a message to someone on WhatsApp.
There's another option if you're moving text within a document: with the text selected, press and hold somewhere in the selection, then drag it to its new location. This works the same way as going through the clipboard and Cut and Paste options.
You'll notice some variations in different apps, for example in Chrome, where if you tap on the current site URL you'll get a copy icon that you can select, not a pop-up bar. However, in general, use a long press to select and copy and a long press to paste.
Select, copy and paste images
In my experience, working with images depends much more on the app you're using, but a long press is a good starting point. In Google Chrome, for example, long-press on an image and you'll see a dialog box pop up with a Copy image option in it.
It's not that simple in all other apps. If you're looking at an image in Google Keep, you need to tap it to view it full screen, then tap the three dots (top right), then choose Copy. In Google Docs, you only need a short tap to bring up the Copy option.
Pasting is a breeze, no matter what app you're in.
- As with text, long-press where you want to insert the image.
- Choose Paste in the pop-up bar that appears.
This assumes you can hit. In Google Photos, which may well be where you share most of your images from, there is no copy function, oddly enough. In this app:
- Tap a photo to view it full screen.
- Tap Share to bring up the sharing options.
- You can now send the image directly to any other app on your phone by selecting it, but you cannot copy or paste it.
It's the same story in many other apps, including WhatsApp and Google Messages. You can't access the copy and cut options there, only the standard sharing option.
While the process of copying and pasting images is quite inconsistent between apps (and sometimes not available at all), you should be able to get your images from one place to another without too much difficulty.
