Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center

Paste[expr]

pastes expr at the current insertion point in the input notebook.

Paste[notebook,expr]

pastes expr to the specified notebook.

Paste[]

pastes the contents of the system clipboard in the input notebook.

Paste[notebook,Automatic]

pastes the contents of the system clipboard to notebook.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
See Also
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page

Paste

Paste[expr]

pastes expr at the current insertion point in the input notebook.

Paste[notebook,expr]

pastes expr to the specified notebook.

Paste[]

pastes the contents of the system clipboard in the input notebook.

Paste[notebook,Automatic]

pastes the contents of the system clipboard to notebook.

Details and Options

  • The expression expr is evaluated and typeset before being pasted to the clipboard. To paste a textual form, specify a string or InputForm[expr].
  • Paste[Defer[expr]] pastes the unevaluated form of expr.
  • Paste["string"] pastes the contents of "string" as plain text.
  • The expression expr can be any expression, including those that represent notebooks or cells.
  • Paste supports typeset expressions, such as StandardForm and TraditionalForm.
  • Results are pasted wherever the selection is at the instant that Paste is evaluated.
  • If content is selected when Paste evaluates, it will be fully replaced by the paste action.
  • If the pasted content includes a selection placeholder, then the selected content will be substituted for the placeholder.
  • Selection placeholders are represented by the character or \[SelectionPlaceholder].
  • The result of Paste will be at the highest fidelity when pasted between cells. When pasting into an existing cell, some style and formatting information may be lost or merged with the existing styles.
  • The following options can be given:
  • AutoScrollTruewhether to scroll the notebook to the pasted material
    PlaceholderReplaceTruewhether to replace a selection placeholder with the selected contents

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)

Paste an expression:

Paste a string:

Paste a graphic:

Paste the contents of the clipboard:

Scope  (3)

Use Defer to paste the unevaluated expression:

Paste a notebook cell:

Now is the time of our discontent.

Paste an expression using TraditionalForm:

Wolfram Research (2010), Paste, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Paste.html (updated 2023).

Text

Wolfram Research (2010), Paste, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Paste.html (updated 2023).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2010. "Paste." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2023. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Paste.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2010). Paste. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Paste.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_paste, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Paste}", year="2023", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Paste.html}", note=[Accessed: 01-March-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_paste, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Paste}, year={2023}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Paste.html}, note=[Accessed: 01-March-2026]}