Copying and pasting is a basic function of every operating system, so it’s important that you know how to use it. Even if you’re familiar with one method of copying and pasting, you might not know how to do it on another platform. Let’s look at how to copy and paste everywhere—we’ll look at how to do this on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iPhone/iPad. Jump to a section: Copy and Paste Basics How to Copy and Paste in Windows How to Copy and Paste on a Mac How to Copy and Paste in Linux How to Copy and Paste in Android How to Copy and Paste on iPhone and iPad Copy and Paste Basics Before we dive into how to copy and paste on each platform, we should discuss a few points about the function that apply everywhere. First, copying and pasting uses an invisible part of the operating system known as the clipboard.