How to Copy and Paste a Bit of Text on Your iPhone

Remember using scissors and glue to snip a recipe from a magazine and stick it into your recipe box? Copying and pasting on your iPhone works the same way. You pick up a bit of writing from one place, then set it down in another — no scissors required.

It's one of those small skills that suddenly makes the phone feel a lot more useful. Once you've got it, you'll use it every week.

When You Might Want to Do This

Say your daughter texts you an address for the family reunion. Instead of writing it down on a scrap of paper and then typing it into your maps app, you can copy it from the text message and paste it right where you need it.

Or maybe you found a good article online and want to email a paragraph to a friend. Or a doctor's office sent you a long confirmation number you'd rather not type by hand. Copy and paste handles all of it.

How to Copy a Piece of Text

Let's walk through it slowly. Say you have a text message on your screen with an address in it.

Press and hold your finger on one of the words you want to copy. Hold for about a second, then let go. The word will be highlighted in blue, with a little blue dot on each side of it.
If you want more than just that one word, drag the blue dots outward — one to the left, one to the right — until the whole address (or sentence, or paragraph) is highlighted in blue.
A small black bar will pop up above the highlighted text with a few choices on it. Tap the word "Copy."

That's it. The text is now tucked away invisibly in your phone's memory, waiting. Nothing looks different on the screen, but your phone is holding onto it — like a note in your pocket.

How to Paste It Somewhere Else

Now go to wherever you want to put that text. Maybe it's the search bar in your maps app, or a new email, or a note to yourself.

Tap once in the empty space where you want the text to go. This is where you'd normally start typing.
Tap the same spot again — this time, press and hold for a second, then let go.
A little black bar will appear with the word "Paste" on it. Tap it.

Your copied text drops right in, exactly as it was. If it doesn't look quite right the first time, don't fret — it takes a bit of practice getting the timing on that press-and-hold. A gentle, steady touch works better than a quick tap.

A Few Handy Notes

Your phone only remembers the last thing you copied. So if you copy an address, then copy a phone number before you've pasted the address, the address is gone. Paste first, then copy the next thing.

You can copy from almost anywhere — text messages, emails, websites, notes — and paste into almost anywhere you can type. It even works between different apps, which is what makes it so useful.

Try This Today

Open a text message from a friend or family member. Press and hold on one word until you see the blue highlight, then tap Copy. Now open your Notes app, tap on a blank line, press and hold, and tap Paste. That's the whole trick — and you've just done it.

Need a hand with your technology? We're here to help. Give PorchSwing a call or book an appointment, and we'll walk you through it at your own pace — no rush, no jargon.