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How to cut, copy and paste

To copy, select the text you want by holding down the left button on your mouse and dragging over it, then choose Copy from the Edit menu (Edit>Copy). You can also right-click on the highlighted text and choose Copy from the menu that appears. Here's an extra tip: you can also click the Copy button on the toolbar at the top of the window (most programmes have one - it looks like two pieces of paper), or press Ctrl+C (the Ctrl key and the C key at the same time). This keyboard method is great for people who don't like to take their hands off the keyboard to use the mouse.

To cut or move the selection, choose Edit>Cut instead, or click the Cut button (usually a pair of scissors) on the toolbar. You can also right-click and choose Cut from the menu, or press Ctrl+X.

Then click at the point where you want the copied or cut material to go. You can change to a different document, programme, your email window, or wherever - then click. After you've got the cursor where you want the selection to end up, paste the selection to end up, paste the selection by choosing Edit>Paste (while still in the window where you want the stuff to go). You can also click the Paste button (if there is one, located at the top of the window), press Ctrl+V, or right-click and choose Paste from the menu that appears.

There's also a method I like to use called drag and drop, which is the easiest method to use if you like using the mouse, and the copy/cut area and the paste area happen to be close together.

For example, if you're editing an email message before you send it, and you want to move something from one place onscreen to somewhere else onscreen, just select the sentence (or whatever) and hold down the mouse button as you drag the sentence to its new location.

Release the mouse button to 'drop' the selection into place at the location of the mouse pointer. To copy instead, press and hold the Ctrl key while you drag. This takes some getting used to, but it's a great timesaver. You can drag the selection out of one window and into another, too.

Don't use drag and drop in some windows where you can't see the selection and its final destination. Nothing will blow up if you try, but you'll learn pretty quickly that the window just scrolls too fast while you're dragging to some location off-screen (further down the page, for example) that you'll just get frustrated. Save the drag and drop method for short distances.

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