PyCharm 2017.3 Help

Cutting, Copying and Pasting

PyCharm provides a number of handy Clipboard operations. You can copy, cut, and paste selected text, a path to a file, or a reference to a symbol or a line of code.

Because PyCharm uses the system Clipboard, you can copy and paste between applications. So doing, when pasting Clipboard entries, PyCharm removes any formatting from the text and any special symbols from the String values.

The Paste command smartly understands what is being inserted. If you paste a reference to a symbol, it is analyzed for possible imports, references, etc. So doing, PyCharm provides the necessary brackets and places the caret at the appropriate insertion point. The Paste Simple command helps paste any Clipboard entry as a plain text, without any analysis.

PyCharm enables Clipboard stacking, which means that you can store multiple Clipboard entries and access them with a single shortcut. The number of entries that can be kept in the Clipboard stack is customizable on the Editor page of the Settings/Preferences dialog.

Copying a selected fragment of text

Do one of the following:

  • On the main menu, choose Edit | Copy.
  • Press Ctrl+C.
  • Click the Copy button copy on the toolbar.
Note that the Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut clones a line at the caret or a selected arbitrary fragment of text.

Copying the path to a file

When you copy the path to a file, the absolute path to a file is copied to the clipboard.

To copy the path to a file, do one of the following:

  • Open the desired file in the editor, then choose Edit | Copy Path on the main menu or press Ctrl+Shift+C.
  • Select the desired file in the Project tool window and choose Copy Path on the context menu of the selection.

Copying the reference to a line or a symbol

  1. Open the desired file in the editor.
  2. Place the caret at a certain line of code.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • On the main menu, choose Edit | Copy Reference.
    • On the context menu of the line at caret, choose Copy Reference.
    • Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C.

    PyCharm creates a string in the format that depends on a symbol at caret. For example:

    Solver.Solver#discr for a Python method

    Solver\Solver.py:14 for a Python file

Cutting a selected fragment of text

  1. Select the desired fragment in the editor.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • On the main menu, choose Edit | Cut.
    • Press Ctrl+X.
    • Click the Cut button cut on the toolbar.

Pasting the last entry from the clipboard

  1. Place the caret in the location where you want to paste content.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • On the main menu, choose Edit | Paste.
    • Press Ctrl+V.
    • Click the Paste button paste on the toolbar.

    If you perform paste in a Python file, the further behavior depends on the settings in the Auto Import page of the Editor options. If the Ask option has been selected, select the necessary imports from the list of missing imports. In all other cases, the last clipboard entry is pasted silently.

Pasting the last entry from the clipboard as plain text

Do one of the following:

  • On the main menu, choose Edit | Paste Simple.
  • Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+V.

Pasting the last entry from the clipboard

Depending on the chosen paste mode, do one of the following:

  • To apply the Paste Simple mode, place the caret in the location where you want to paste the content and choose Edit | Paste Simple on the main menu or press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+V.
  • To apply the Paste mode, place the caret in the location where you want to paste the content and choose Edit | Paste on the main menu, or press Ctrl+V, or click the Paste button paste on the toolbar.

Pasting a specific entry from the clipboard

  1. On the main menu, choose Edit | Paste from History or press Ctrl+Shift+V.
  2. In the Choose Content to Paste dialog box select the desired entry from the list of recent Clipboard entries.
  3. Click Paste to paste the content using the Paste mode or hover your mouse over this button to display the available paste mode options. Depending on the chosen paste mode, do one of the following:
    • Paste: select this option to apply the Paste mode.
    • Paste Simple: select this option to apply the Paste Simple mode.

The depth of the Clipboard stack is configured in the Limits section on the Editor page of the Settings/Preferences dialog box. When the specified number is exceeded, the oldest entry is removed from the list.

Last modified: 28 March 2018

See Also