> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://chaoses-ib.gitbook.io/directory-opus/manual/file_operations/copying_moving_and_deleting_files/copy_and_paste.md).

# Copy and Paste

Copy-and-paste (or cut-and-paste) is possibly the simplest method of moving files around.

1. Select the files you want to copy or move, choose the *Copy* (Ctrl+C) or *Cut* (Ctrl+X) command from the **Edit** menu
2. Navigate to the target folder, and select *Paste* (Ctrl+V).

Moving files using the clipboard is implemented in almost all file managers the same way, although Opus does extend this functionality in a few ways, which it's worth being aware of.

### Copy queues

Although these functions use the internal [**Clipboard**](/directory-opus/manual/reference/command_reference/internal_commands/clipboard.md) command to initiate them, when you paste files into a Lister, the actual file copy or move is implemented "behind-the-scenes" using the internal [**Copy**](/directory-opus/manual/reference/command_reference/internal_commands/copy.md) command.

This means that features like the [copy queue](/directory-opus/manual/file_operations/copying_moving_and_deleting_files/copy_queues.md) are available for clipboard operations just like they are when [copying via the toolbar buttons](/directory-opus/manual/file_operations/copying_moving_and_deleting_files/copying_using_the_toolbar_buttons.md).

You can control the queuing using the various arguments for the [**Clipboard**](/directory-opus/manual/reference/command_reference/internal_commands/clipboard.md) command.

### Pasting text and graphics data

If the clipboard contains text or graphics data, you can paste that in a Lister as if it were a real file. Opus will create a new file and write the clipboard data to it automatically.

* Text data will be written to a file called *Clipboard Text.txt*
* Graphical data will be written to a file called *Clipboard Image.jpg*

You can modify the format that graphics data is saved in (Bitmap, GIF, PNG or JPG) using the **clipboard\_image\_paste** option on the [**Miscellaneous / Advanced**](/directory-opus/manual/preferences/preferences_categories/miscellaneous/advanced_options.md) page in Preferences. You can also use the **clipboard\_image\_paste\_dpi** option to have the pasted image scaled automatically to compensate for the system DPI.

The name of the new file can be controlled using the various arguments for the [**Clipboard**](/directory-opus/manual/reference/command_reference/internal_commands/clipboard.md) command.

### Incremental clipboard

The **ADD** argument for the internal [**Clipboard**](/directory-opus/manual/reference/command_reference/internal_commands/clipboard.md) command lets you add selected files to any that are already on the clipboard. For example, you could copy a few files from one folder, a few from another folder, and a few from a third folder, and then paste them all into the destination in one go.

To make use of this functionality, you would need to create a new toolbar button or hotkey that runs the `Clipboard COPY ADD` command (or assign this to a hotkey - for example, Ctrl+C runs `Clipboard COPY` by default, so you could assign this to Ctrl+Shift+C).

See the section on [Customize](/directory-opus/manual/customize.md) for information about creating your own buttons and hotkeys.