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Clipboard

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

The Clipboard interface implements the Clipboard API, providing—if the user grants permission—both read and write access to the contents of the system clipboard. The Clipboard API can be used to implement cut, copy, and paste features within a web application.

EventTarget Clipboard

The system clipboard is exposed through the global Navigator.clipboard property.

Calls to the methods of the Clipboard object will not succeed if the user hasn't granted the needed permissions using the Permissions API and the "clipboard-read" or "clipboard-write" permission as appropriate.

Note: In reality, at this time browser requirements for access to the clipboard vary significantly. Please see the section Clipboard availability for details.

All of the Clipboard API methods operate asynchronously; they return a Promise which is resolved once the clipboard access has been completed. The promise is rejected if clipboard access is denied.

Note: The clipboard is a data buffer that is used for short-term, data storage and/or data transfers, this can be between documents or applications It is usually implemented as an anonymous, temporary data buffer, sometimes called the paste buffer, that can be accessed from most or all programs within the environment via defined programming interfaces.

A typical application accesses clipboard functionality by mapping user input such as keybindings, menu selections, etc. to these interfaces.

Methods

Clipboard is based on the EventTarget interface, and includes its methods.

read()

Requests arbitrary data (such as images) from the clipboard, returning a Promise that resolves with an array of ClipboardItem objects containing the clipboard's contents.

readText()

Requests text from the system clipboard; returns a Promise which is resolved with a string containing the clipboard's text once it's available.

write()

Writes arbitrary data to the system clipboard. This asynchronous operation signals that it's finished by resolving the returned Promise.

writeText()

Writes text to the system clipboard, returning a Promise which is resolved once the text is fully copied into the clipboard.

Clipboard availability

The asynchronous clipboard API is a relatively recent addition, and the process of implementing it in browsers is not yet complete. Due to both potential security concerns and technical complexities, the process of integrating this API is happening gradually in most browsers.

For example, Firefox does not yet support the "clipboard-read" and "clipboard-write" permissions, so access to the methods that access and change the contents of the clipboard are restricted in other ways.

For WebExtensions, you can request the clipboardRead and clipboardWrite permissions to be able to use clipboard.readText() and clipboard.writeText(). Content scripts applied on HTTP sites do not have access to the clipboard object. See extensions in Firefox 63.

In addition, read() and write() are disabled by default and require changing a preference to enable them. Check the compatibility tables for each method before using it.

Specifications

Specification
Clipboard API and events
# clipboard-interface

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
Clipboard
66
79
63
No
53
13.1
66
66
63
47
13.4
9.0
read
86
From version 86, the text/html MIME type is supported.
76
From version 76, the image/png MIME type is supported.
66
Images are not supported.
79
90
Firefox only supports reading the clipboard in browser extensions, using the "clipboardRead" extension permission.
87-90
Firefox only supports reading the clipboard in browser extensions, using the "clipboardRead" extension permission.
63-87
["This method returns a DataTransfer object instead of an array of ClipboardItem objects.", "Firefox only supports reading the clipboard in browser extensions, using the \"clipboardRead\" extension permission."]
No
63
13.1
84
From version 84, the image/png MIME type is supported.
66
Images are not supported.
86
From version 86, the text/html MIME type is supported.
84
From version 84, the image/png MIME type is supported.
66
Images are not supported.
No
54
13.4
12.0
readText
66
79
63
Firefox only supports reading the clipboard in browser extensions, using the "clipboardRead" extension permission.
No
53
13.1
66
66
63
Firefox only supports reading the clipboard in browser extensions, using the "clipboardRead" extension permission.
47
13.4
9.0
write
66
From version 76, the image/png MIME type is supported.
79
87
Writing to the clipboard is available without permission in secure contexts and browser extensions, but only from user-initiated event callbacks. Browser extensions with the "clipboardWrite" permission can write to the clipboard at any time.
63
["This method accepts a DataTransfer object instead of an array of ClipboardItem objects.", "Writing to the clipboard is available without permission in secure contexts and browser extensions, but only from user-initiated event callbacks. Browser extensions with the \"clipboardWrite\" permission can write to the clipboard at any time."]
No
63
13.1
66
From version 84, the image/png MIME type is supported.
66
From version 84, the image/png MIME type is supported.
No
54
13.4
12.0
writeText
66
79
63
Writing to the clipboard is available without permission in secure contexts and browser extensions, but only from user-initiated event callbacks. Browser extensions with the "clipboardWrite" permission can write to the clipboard at any time.
No
53
13.1
Must be called within user gesture event handlers such as pointerdown or pointerup.
66
66
63
Writing to the clipboard is available without permission in secure contexts and browser extensions, but only from user-initiated event callbacks. Browser extensions with the "clipboardWrite" permission can write to the clipboard at any time.
47
13.4
Must be called within user gesture event handlers such as pointerdown or pointerup.
9.0

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Clipboard

Name Web APIs
Version
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Last Updated 2022-04-27T09:33:08Z