How to Copy and Paste on a Chromebook?

Keyboard method (fastest)

1. Select the text or item by clicking and dragging over it (or double-click a word, triple-click a paragraph).
2. Copy: press Ctrl + C.
3. Click where you want it to go.
4. Paste: press Ctrl + V.

Useful keyboard shortcuts

Touchpad (trackpad) method

1. Highlight the text.
2. Two-finger tap (or Alt + tap) on the trackpad to open the right-click menu.
3. Choose Copy, then two-finger tap where you want it and choose Paste.

Copying a link: two-finger tap (right-click) directly on the link and choose "Copy link address" from the menu, then paste it with Ctrl+V wherever you need it — this copies the URL itself, not just the visible link text.

Copying images: two-finger tap the image and choose "Copy image", then paste with Ctrl+V into a doc, email, or image editor that accepts pasted images.

What Ctrl+Alt+Z does: this is not a copy-paste shortcut — it toggles ChromeVox, the built-in screen reader, on and off. If you hit it by accident and your Chromebook suddenly starts reading everything aloud, press Ctrl+Alt+Z again to turn it off.

Why copy and paste might stop working

• The app you're pasting into doesn't accept the format you copied (try Ctrl+Shift+V for plain text instead).
• A browser extension is interfering with clipboard access — try disabling extensions one at a time to isolate it.
• The Chromebook needs a restart — clipboard glitches are usually temporary and clear after a reboot.
• You're trying to paste into a field that only accepts specific input types (like a numbers-only field).

Tip: if your Chromebook has a touchscreen, you can also press and hold on text to bring up selection handles and a Copy/Paste menu, just like on a phone.

Clipboard history (a feature most people miss): Chromebooks have a built-in clipboard manager that remembers your last several copied items, not just the most recent one. Press Search + V (or the Everything button + V on newer keyboards) to open it and pick from recent copies — useful when you copied something new before pasting the previous item.

Copying between Android apps and Chrome OS: if your Chromebook runs Android apps, copy and paste generally works the same way across both — copy in an Android app with a long-press-and-hold selection, then paste into a Chrome OS window with Ctrl+V, and vice versa. Occasionally an older Android app doesn't support this bridge, in which case retyping or using the app's own share function is the workaround.

You may also want How to Cross Out Text in Google Docs? or How to Curve Text in Canva?.

Neighbouring how-tos sit on other Phones, Computers & Devices questions. From the homepage you can ask a follow-up of your own — no account needed.