Copy Paste Keyboard Shortcuts for Every Device (Complete Guide)

Copy and paste feels like the one universal computer skill everyone already knows — until you switch from a Mac to a Windows laptop, or from a phone to a Chromebook, and the shortcut you have used for years suddenly does nothing. Here is the complete reference for copy and paste shortcuts across every major device, plus the less obvious variants worth knowing.

Windows

• Copy: Ctrl + C
• Cut: Ctrl + X
• Paste: Ctrl + V
• Paste as plain text: Ctrl + Shift + V (in apps that support it)
• Undo a paste: Ctrl + Z

Mac

• Copy: Cmd + C
• Cut: Cmd + X
• Paste: Cmd + V
• Paste and match style (plain text): Cmd + Option + Shift + V, or Edit → Paste and Match Style
• Undo a paste: Cmd + Z

Chromebook

• Copy: Ctrl + C
• Cut: Ctrl + X
• Paste: Ctrl + V
• Paste as plain text: Ctrl + Shift + V

Chromebook shortcuts mirror Windows almost exactly, since ChromeOS is keyboard-layout compatible with standard PC shortcuts in most apps and in the browser itself.

iPhone and iPad

• Select text: tap and hold, then drag the selection handles.
• Copy: tap "Copy" in the popup menu that appears after selecting.
• Paste: tap and hold in the destination field, then tap "Paste."
• Cut: tap "Cut" instead of "Copy" in the selection popup.
• With an external keyboard attached: Cmd + C, Cmd + X, and Cmd + V work the same as on a Mac.

Android

• Select text: tap and hold on the text, then drag the handles to adjust the selection.
• Copy: tap the "Copy" icon or option that appears in the toolbar above the selection.
• Paste: tap and hold in the destination field, then tap "Paste."
• With an external keyboard attached: Ctrl + C, Ctrl + X, and Ctrl + V generally work, though support varies slightly by device manufacturer.

Linux

• Copy: Ctrl + C (most apps), though many terminal applications use Ctrl + Shift + C instead, since Ctrl + C is reserved for canceling a running command.
• Paste: Ctrl + V (most apps), or Ctrl + Shift + V in terminal applications for the same reason.
• Middle-click paste: many Linux desktop environments also support pasting your most recent text selection by middle-clicking, independent of the regular clipboard.

The shortcut that works everywhere: paste as plain text

Across nearly every platform above, there is some way to strip formatting on paste — Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V is the closest thing to a universal standard, though it does not work in every single app. When it is not supported, routing your text through a plain-text tool like CopyPaster's text tab achieves the same result, since it never stores formatting to begin with.

Tip: if you regularly switch between a Mac and a Windows machine, the muscle memory mix-up (hitting Ctrl instead of Cmd, or vice versa) is one of the most common typing slips — it is not you, it happens to almost everyone who splits time between both.

The bottom line

The core shortcut pattern — Ctrl or Cmd, plus C, X, or V — holds steady across almost every device, with the biggest variation being which modifier key your platform expects and how plain-text pasting is handled. Bookmark this if you regularly switch between devices; it beats relearning the same three keys every time.