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Copy and Paste with the Command Prompt

  • Artikel

Keyboard:  ENTER (copy)
Menu:  System Menu -> Edit -> [Mark, Copy, Paste, Select All]
Versions:  2008,2010
Published:  7/21/2010
Code:  vstipTool0057

 

Pasting

There is a pretty rich set of tools to help you work with text in the command prompt windows.  For example, you can copy text and paste it by going to System Menu -> Edit -> Paste:

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If you have a folder or file path you want to use you can always find the folder/file in Windows Explorer and CLICK AND DRAG the item to the command prompt:

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It will paste the full path to the folder/file in the window:

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Copying

You can copy text from the command prompt by first marking the text by going to System Menu -> Edit -> Mark:

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Highlight the text you want by clicking and dragging over the text you want:

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If you want, you can always go to System Menu -> Edit -> Select All:

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Press ENTER to copy the text to the clipboard and then paste where you want.

 

 

QuickEdit Mode

If this seems tedious to you then you can always enable QuickEdit mode by going to System Menu -> Properties -> Options Tab -> Edit Options and enable "QuickEdit Mode":

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Now you can simply use your mouse at any time to select some text as the Mark option is always enabled via CLICK AND DRAG:

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RIGHT CLICK or ENTER to copy any selected text and then RIGHT CLICK again to paste at the current cursor location:

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2010
    It still blows my mind that the Edit-menu features in the command-prompt are so user-unfriendly.  They do not conform to any of the existing standards (Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, etc.) and require navigation through two levels of menu to reach.  The necessity of selecting "Mark" before you can even highlight text is painful too.  And, perhaps worst of all, clicking the mouse with your aim off by a few pixels when going to the Edit menu will close the console window entirely. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad it's possible to use copy and paste in the command-prompt.  I just find it incredibly frustrating how unfriendly the functionality is.

  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2010
    I completely agree with Cory. The current menu-driven copy-paste scenario is painful beyond belief. Could somebody please explain why the prompts doesn't support CTRL+C/V?

  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2010
    How about mentioning you can go to properties from the system menu and check "QuickEdit Mode" on the Options tab? Then you can copy and paste just by right-clicking anywhere in the command window. It's amazing that the command window hasn't been improved at all. The developers that build the Windows OS use command windows all day long - they prefer it to win. explorer - and yet they don't see a need to improve it.

  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2010
    I thought I would add a couple fo links for those who want to use PowerShell.  These may help get folks started: stackoverflow.com/.../how-i-can-use-powershell-with-the-visual-studio-2010-command-prompt www.wintellect.com/.../updated-powershell-script-for-setting-your-symbol-paths.aspx