How To Copy And Paste In Google Sheets

In this tutorial, you will learn how to copy and paste in Google Sheets.

A common task when editing any digital file is copying and pasting information from one location to another, and Google Sheets is no exception. Whether you want to create a perfect copy of a cell or range, or just want to copy formulas, values or formatting, the following steps will walk you through the process

Copy

This step is the same regardless of what information from the cell or range you want to duplicate:

Step 1

Select the cell or range you want to copy

Step 2

Open the edit menu and choose Copy. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, which is CTRL + C on Windows and CMD + C on Mac

Paste

Once the you’ve copied the range to the clipboard, here’s how to paste it:

Step 1

Select the cell to paste the copied data into

Step 2

Open the Edit menu and choose Paste or use the keyboard shortcut: CTRL + V on Windows or CMD + V on Mac

Step 3

The copied range will be pasted into the selected cell, including formulas and formatting

Step 4

If the copied range is larger than a single cell, the entire copied range will be pasted, with the upper-left corner in the selected cell

Paste Special

In addition to pasting everything about the original cell, you can also paste only what you want. For example, just the formatting or the values

Here’s how:

Step 1

Copy the cell or range then select a cell to paste into

Step 2

Open the Edit menu, hover over Paste Special, and select an option

Step 3

The selected item will be pasted, while all other aspects of the original cell will be omitted

Summary

Example Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the example spreadsheet

In this tutorial, I covered how to copy and paste in Google Sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.