Clipboard

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What Does Clipboard Mean?

A clipboard is a temporary place to store data in a computer application. Technically a clipboard is a section of random access memory (RAM). Once stored in this temporary place, clipboard data may be copied to another place, whether it be within the same application or into a new one. Given that the clipboard is stored in RAM, users must remember that all clipboard data is erases when the computer shuts down.

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Also known as a clipboard buffer.

Techopedia Explains Clipboard

In word processing and other applications, the clipboard may be used extensively. For example, editing text often involves moving words, phrases, sentences or entire paragraphs or pages, to a different location. After blocking or highlighting the particular section–usually by dragging the cursor over the text—it can be cut or copied, then moved (or pasted) to a new location.

Most operating systems impliment a clipboard in one way or another and there are differences specific to each as to how you use the clipboard.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.