How to Copy and Paste on iPhone? It's easy to perform these basic operations on your Apple device – but you need to know how.
I'm constantly moving bits of information between documents, screens, and apps on my iPhone, but I can't always be sure I'm doing it best, especially since Apple regularly changes the way it copies and pastes with successive versions of iOS.
That's why I wanted to look at the different options that iOS offers you to copy and paste text and images without the familiar shortcuts on the computer keyboard. These options are outlined below and will take you from basic copy and paste to some more advanced tricks.
One note: I'm writing this guide using an iPhone 17.2.1 Pro Max running iOS 15, the latest version of the software at the time of writing.
iPhone Copy and paste text
To copy and paste text, you first need to select the text:
- To select non-editable text (such as text on a web page), press and hold any part of a word until it is highlighted.
- To select editable text (while the onscreen keyboard is shown), double-tap a word to select it, or triple-tap a paragraph to select it.
Whichever method you use, you can press and hold your finger and then move it to expand the selection. You'll also see handles on each edge of the selection that you can tap and drag to change where the selection starts and stops. (Note: Some apps handle text selection differently, but a press-and-hold action will usually work).
When you're done, a pop-up bar will appear above your selection. What appears in the bar may vary:
- Depending on the app and text, you may see the Select All option listed. Tap this to select all text on a page or section.
- If you see the Cut and Copy options, simply tap either one to perform the action. If the Cut option is not visible, the text cannot be moved.
- If you prefer gestures, pinch three fingers closed over the selection to copy the text, or pinch two fingers closed with three fingers to cut it.
You are now ready to paste the text:
- With the on-screen keyboard visible, tap the screen where you want text to be added.
- Select Paste from the pop-up bar that appears.
- You can also pinch open text with three fingers to paste it.
- If you're working on an editable document and want to move the text, you can select the text, tap and hold on it, and then drag it to a new location.
Copy and paste images
Copying and pasting images is a little simpler. To select an image in most applications, including Notes and Safari:
- Press and hold on the image.
- Tap Cut or Copy in the pop-up bar that appears. (Cut will only appear if you are working in an editable document).
Apple Photos doesn't work the same way. To copy an image using this application:
- Tap the image thumbnail to make it full screen.
- Then tap the Share button (the square with the arrow in the bottom left) and select Copy Photo.
This sends the image to the clipboard. To paste elsewhere:
- With the on-screen keyboard showing, tap where you want to paste the image.
- Tap Paste in the pop-up bar.
If the app you pasted the image into supports image resizing, you'll see handles around the image that you can use to change its size. Remember that you cannot use pinch gestures in images, which you can use in texts.
More options
When you highlight text and images, you'll notice several options appear in the pop-up bar. The most useful in terms of copy and paste is probably Share – tap this to send the selected text or image directly to another app on your iPhone.
In fact, in some cases you may find it easier to share something rather than copy and paste it – the selected text and image will automatically be added to the app of your choice. The Copy option also appears in the Share menu if you need it.
There's also the Universal Clipboard feature: If you have a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled iPad or Mac signed in to the same Apple ID, and Handoff is on, all those devices will share one clipboard.
This means you can copy something on your iPhone, then switch to your Mac to paste it somewhere, or vice versa. It's important to be aware of the Universal Clipboard even if you don't want to use it; otherwise you may find yourself copying and pasting content between devices when you don't really want to.
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