How to copy and paste photos on a MacBook Air or Pro

TechZerg is reader supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.

Copying and pasting a photo on a Mac computer is quite simple. Whether you are a new or existing owner of a MacBook Air or Pro, it can sometimes be tricky to know how to do specific tasks. Apple has made the process relatively easy with plenty of methods to choose from, depending on whether you’re copying and pasting the photo within the same document or another document.

There are many ways to copy and paste photos on a MacBook Air or Pro:

Step 1

Copy the image by clicking on it, then press “CMD+C” to copy the picture to the clipboard.

Step 2

Press “CMD+V” to paste the photo where you want it to go on your screen.

Step3

To cut and copy a particular photo area, press “CMD+SHIFT+4” simultaneously, the mouse cursor becomes a crosshairs symbol. Use your mouse to draw a rectangle around the area you want to capture.

Step 4

Release the mouse button. The Mac plays a camera shutter sound, and the selected area of the screen is copied to the clipboard.

Step 5

Go into any app that supports pasting images (e.g., Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop) and press “CMD+V” or go into Photos or the document you want to paste it into and press “CMD+V.”

Apple has made it easy for users to copy and paste on their devices through the Command + C and Command + V keyboard shortcut. Users can also cut text by using Command + X, which deletes the selected text or image. Another thing to mention is Apple’s Universal Clipboard feature that allows users to copy and paste across devices, such as copying from an iPhone and pasting to a MacBook or Mac computer. The Universal Clipboard is a sleek feature introduced by Apple that allows you to copy and paste text, images, and files from one iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to another device or your Mac computer.

Copy and paste photos on a Mac within the same document

When pasting an image in the same document on Mac, select the item to be copied with the mouse and press and hold the “Option” key. Next, drag the selected image to any other part of the document and paste it. It’s important to keep the Option key held down while dragging the image into a new position within the document. If the option key is not pressed, the photo will only be moved and not copied to the new position.

Copy and paste photos on a Mac from another document

You can also copy a photo from a different document and paste it into another document. This is a straightforward process, as long as both documents are open at the same time on the MacBook Air or Pro. All you have to do is copy the image, then paste it into your document.

Step 1

Select the image with the mouse.

Step 2

Press “Command + C” on your keyboard to copy it.

Step 3

Press “Command + V” to paste it into your document.

Another option is to click on the image to select it and then drag it directly to the other document to paste it.

Whether copying from one document to another or simply duplicating an image within the same document, Apple makes the process easy by simply allowing the user to drag the image from the old place to the new location.

Copying a photo from one page to another or simply duplicating an image within the same document or another document, Apple makes the process easy by simply allowing users to drag the photo from the old position to the new place.