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Copy and paste — Computing, 4–6

You can make a second copy of words or pictures without doing the same work again. Computing, 4–6 years.

Make another copy

Copy and paste lets you use the same word, picture or sound in a new place. First, you choose the thing and copy it; then you choose a new place and paste it there. The original stays where it was, so you have two copies.

Why copy and paste exists

People often need the same label, sentence or picture in several places. Typing or drawing it again wastes time and can change it by accident. Copy and paste solves that problem: you make one careful version, then reuse it wherever it belongs.

Copy a picture

Imagine that you draw a blue star on the left side of a page. You select the star and choose Copy, so the computer remembers a second version. You click on the right side and choose Paste. Now the page has a blue star on both sides, while the first star is still there.

Copy is not move

A reasonable mistake is to expect the first thing to disappear after you paste it. In everyday life, moving a toy means taking it from one place to another. But Copy makes a twin, while Move takes the original away. If you want only one, check which action you chose.

Where you use it

You can copy a favourite colour, a name or a picture when making a digital card. You might also copy a word from one part of a story to another place. This is useful when the same thing must appear several times, but you should still check that each copy is in the right place.

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