Clipboard API

The Clipboard API provides the ability to respond to clipboard commands (cut, copy, and paste) as well as to asynchronously read from and write to the system clipboard. Access to the contents of the clipboard is gated behind the Permissions API; without user permission, reading or altering the clipboard contents is not permitted.

This API is designed to supersede accessing the clipboard using document.execCommand().

Accessing the clipboard

Instead of creating a Clipboard object through instantiation, you access the system clipboard through the Navigator.clipboard global:

navigator.clipboard.readText().then(
  clipText => document.querySelector(".editor").innerText += clipText);

This snippet fetches the text from the clipboard and appends it to the first element found with the class "editor". Since readText() (and read(), for that matter) returns an empty string if the clipboard isn't text, this code is safe.

Interfaces

Clipboard Secure context

Provides an interface for reading and writing text and data to or from the system clipboard. The specification refers to this as the 'Async Clipboard API.'

ClipboardEvent Secure context

Represents events providing information related to modification of the clipboard, that is cut, copy, and paste events. The specification refers to this as the 'Clipboard Event API'.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Clipboard