Copy and paste is the skill every tutorial assumes you have and almost nobody was ever actually taught. Five minutes here fixes that forever, on the computer and on your phone.
On a computer, with the mouse
Highlight the text you want by clicking at the start and dragging to the end. Right-click the highlighted text and choose Copy. Click where you want the text to go, right-click again, choose Paste. That is the whole trick.
The keyboard shortcut worth learning
Highlight the text, then press Ctrl and C together to copy (Command and C on a Mac). Click where it should go and press Ctrl and V to paste. Why V? Because it sits next to C, and someone decided that fifty years ago. It does not need to make sense to be useful.
On your phone
Press and hold on a word until it highlights, then drag the little handles to cover what you want. Tap Copy in the small menu that appears. Go where you want it, press and hold in the typing area, and tap Paste.
When it does not work
Some things resist highlighting: text inside images, some protected websites, and some apps. That is the content, not you. If dragging the handles fights you on the phone, try double-tapping the word first.
Want the printable version? This exact lesson is one of the ten sheets in the Tech Help Cheat Sheet Library, made to sit next to the keyboard.
