Clipboard

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

The Clipboard interface implements the Clipboard API, providing—if the user grants permission—both read and write access to the contents of the system clipboard. The Clipboard API can be used to implement cut, copy, and paste features within a web application.

EventTarget Clipboard

The system clipboard is exposed through the global Navigator.clipboard property.

Calls to the methods of the Clipboard object will not succeed if the user hasn't granted the needed permissions using the Permissions API and the 'clipboard-read' or 'clipboard-write' permission as appropriate.

Note: In reality, at this time browser requirements for access to the clipboard vary significantly. Please see the section Clipboard availability for details.

All of the Clipboard API methods operate asynchronously; they return a Promise which is resolved once the clipboard access has been completed. The promise is rejected if clipboard access is denied.

Instance methods

Clipboard is based on the EventTarget interface, and includes its methods.

read()

Requests arbitrary data (such as images) from the clipboard, returning a Promise that resolves with an array of ClipboardItem objects containing the clipboard's contents.

readText()

Requests text from the system clipboard; returns a Promise which is resolved with a string containing the clipboard's text once it's available.

write()

Writes arbitrary data to the system clipboard. This asynchronous operation signals that it's finished by resolving the returned Promise.

writeText()

Writes text to the system clipboard, returning a Promise which is resolved once the text is fully copied into the clipboard.

Clipboard availability

The asynchronous clipboard API is a relatively recent addition, and the process of implementing it in browsers is not yet complete. Due to both potential security concerns and technical complexities, the process of integrating this API is happening gradually in most browsers. See the browser compatibility section below for more information.

In browser extensions, you can access the system clipboard using the WebExtension clipboard API.

Specifications

Specification
Clipboard API and events
# clipboard-interface

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also