Tip #84 - Copying Text from the Internet

100 Computer Tips in 100 Days

Tip #84 - Copying Text from the Internet

So you’re getting ready for vacation and you have found lots of good information on a variety of web pages. The most common thing people do is to print out the entire web page, all eight pages, even though you only wanted the information on page three. A way around this is to select just the information you need, copy it and paste it into a word document. That’s what we’re going to do today.

In preparation you should open your word processing program, whatever program that might be. Also open a web browser, again whichever program is your favorite. Use the search engine to find a webpage that has interesting information for you to copy. This could be a recipe, directions, or travel recommendations. After you have identified the information you would like to copy you need to select it. Do not use the select all command, because you will select too much information and it will be unmanageable.

You should use the click – shift click method to select the text. You might remember from an earlier tip that when we want to select a range of text we click (yes, a regular left click) at the beginning of the text, scroll down to the end of the text area, hold down the Shift key and click at the end. You need to make sure the Shift key is held down before you click at the end of the text. Now that the text is selected you will copy it. Use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl (Command)+ c. I know it doesn’t look like anything has happened but remember that copy puts information on the Clipboard, a holding place in the computer’s memory. Now switch over to your word processing program. On the windows machines use the task bar along the bottom of your screen, in the Apple environment click the program on the docking area along the bottom. Once your word processing program is up we’ll use the paste command of Ctrl (Command) + v.

Now go back to your webpage and get some more text using the same technique. Happy copying and pasting.

Happy computing!

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