How to Copy and Paste Text on iPhone and iPad
By Jessica RegheliniUpdated on August 16, 2024
Want to copy and paste something on your iPhone or iPad so you don’t have to take the time to re-read and type out everything you want to copy? We know it can be tedious and frustrating not knowing how to copy and paste on your iOS device, so today, we want to help you out. In this article, we’ll be showing you how to copy and paste on iPhone or iPad.
iOS devices don’t make it super easy to find the copy and paste options. Unlike a computer, you aren’t able to right click, use keyboard shortcuts, or use commands from a menu that always appears on your screen. Instead, the copy and paste options appear in a pop up menu.
Now, let’s get into the steps you need to take to copy and paste text on your iOS device.
To copy and paste text on iPhone and iPad:
1. Open the app with the text you would like to copy.
Open whichever app you’d like to copy text from. For example, let’s say you wanted to copy text from an email.
2. Find the specific text you want to copy. Tap and hold your finger over it to reveal options.
Now that you have the app open, find the words, message, etc. that you want to copy text from. When you find it, tap and hold your finger on one of the words to reveal a pop-up menu with options.
3. Copy the text.
If you want to select more than just that word, you can tap and drag the blue lines on either side of your selection to select other words that appear before or after it. Or, tap Select All if you want to select all of the text on that page. Once you’ve selected what you want to copy, tap Copy.
4. Open the page/app where you want to paste.
Now, find the place you’d like to paste the text you have copied. You can paste text into a message, note, email, etc. Depending on what you want to do with your selection, open the appropriate app.
5. Tap an empty spot in a text box to reveal options. Then, tap Paste.
Within the app you want to paste the text to, tap an empty text box to reveal another pop up menu, the same way you did to copy text. This will reveal the option to paste text. Tap Paste to fill the text box with your copied text.
That’s all you need to do to copy and paste text on your Apple devices. Now, let’s just go over a couple of things you should remember when copying and pasting on iOS.
Notes on copying and pasting text on iPhone and iPad
Not all apps support the ability to copy and paste text.
While many apps allow you to copy and paste text, there are also many that do not support these options. For example, you cannot copy and paste text on Instagram or Twitter.
If you happen to make a mistake when pasting or typing, you can shake your iPhone to undo it.
There is a cool feature that allows you to undo typing or pasting when entering text into a text box. If you make a mistake, shake your phone to reveal an “undo” option. Tap Undo to fix your mistake.
That does it for our tutorial on how to copy and paste text on your iPhone or iPad. We hope you found this information helpful! If you’re interested in more helpful articles like this one, check out our guide on how to text on iPhone.