I’ve written many times about the Windows clipboard and most savvy computer users copy and paste all the time without thinking about it. They merrily copy and paste text throughout a document and even from one software program to another.
However, if you need to use a piece of text repeatedly, there’s another sort of sneaky way you can use Windows to set it aside for you. You can turn any piece of text into a "document scrap" just by pasting it onto your desktop. Here’s how it works:
1. In any document, such as Word or WordPad, click and drag to highlight some text. Choose Edit|Copy or press Ctrl+C to copy it to the clipboard.
2. Now go to the Windows desktop and right-click in any blank area (i.e. don’t right click an icon). Choose Paste from the right-click menu. Or click a blank area of the desktop and Ctrl+V.
3. A little icon appears on your desktop that looks (appropriately) like a piece of paper with highlighting on it. The title is Document Scrap and the first word or so of your text. Unfortunately, if you have more than one scrap, they can get confusing quickly. To rename the scrap, right-click on the icon and choose Rename.
To use your new scrap you often can just click and drag it into a document. Or you can double-click the scrap icon, highlight the text within and copy and paste it into another program.
If you have text you use a lot, this quick tip can save you quite a bit of time.