Cut/Copy and Paste  

First, understand the difference between COPY and CUT. For text on a webpage or in an email you receive, you can only COPY. For text you have written, such as an outbound mail message or a word processing file, you can CUT.

Copy means to put a copy of the text you have highlighted into a temporary area called the "Paste Buffer," leaving the original text untouched. Cut means to put a copy of the text you have highlighted into a temporary area called the "Paste Buffer" and delete the original text.

TO COPY AND PASTE

Typical mouse. The left button is marked. Note this is a PC mouse. The Mac mouse has a different configuration.

1. Place the mouse pointer at the beginning of what you want to copy, Press and hold down the left mouse button.

2. With the left mouse pressed down, move (drag) the cursor across or down. When you reach the end of the area you want to copy, release the mouse button. What you want to copy should be now be highlighted.

3. Without moving the mouse, hold down the control (CTRL) key on your keyboard and press the letter "c" - this copies the text into your paste buffer. Alternately, in most applications, you can click "Edit" on the menu bar and then click "Copy."

4. Now place the cursor in the application where you want the text to appear, such as email. While holding down the control (CTRL) key, click the letter "v" and your text will appear. Alternately, in most applications, you can click "Edit" on the menu bar and then click "Paste."

Typical keyboard. Note the X, C anc V keys. The control (CTRL) key is the key on the bottom row, far left.

TO CUT AND PASTE

Remember, you can only cut what is in an editable application, like email you have written or a document you have written.

In step 3 above, follow the same instructions except press the "x" key instead of the "c" key. Using the alternate method, you would click "Cut" instead of "Copy." This will copy the text into your paste buffer but the text will be removed from the original document.