How to copy text programmatically in my Android app

Question

I m building an Android app and I want to copy the text value of an EditText widget  It s possible for the user to press Menu A then Menu C to copy the value  but how would I do this programmatically

User · Answer

Android support library update

As of Android Oreo, the support library only goes down to API 14. Most newer apps probably also have a min API of 14, and thus don't need to worry about the issues with API 11 mentioned in some of the other answers. A lot of the code can be cleaned up. (But see my edit history if you are still supporting lower versions.)

Copy

ClipboardManager clipboard = (ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
ClipData clip = ClipData.newPlainText("label", selectedText);
if (clipboard == null || clip == null) return;
clipboard.setPrimaryClip(clip);

Paste

I'm adding this code as a bonus, because copy/paste is usually done in pairs.

ClipboardManager clipboard = (ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
try {
    CharSequence text = clipboard.getPrimaryClip().getItemAt(0).getText();
} catch (Exception e) {
    return;
}

Notes

Be sure to import the android.content.ClipboardManager version rather than the old android.text.ClipboardManager. Same for ClipData.
If you aren't in an activity you can get the service with context.getSystemService().
I used a try/catch block for getting the paste text because multiple things can be null. You can check each one if you find that way more readable.

User · Answer

So everyone agree on how this should be done  but since no one want to give a complete solution  here goes   int sdk   android os Build VERSION SDK INT  if sdk  lt  android os Build VERSION CODES HONEYCOMB        android text ClipboardManager clipboard    android text ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE       clipboard setText  text to clip      else       android content ClipboardManager clipboard    android content ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE        android content ClipData clip   android content ClipData newPlainText  text label   text to clip        clipboard setPrimaryClip clip       I assume you have something like following declared in manifest    lt uses-sdk android minSdkVersion  7  android targetSdkVersion  14    gt

User · Answer

Here is my working code          Method to code text in clip board        param context context     param text    text what wan to copy in clipboard     param label   label what want to copied     public static void copyCodeInClipBoard Context context  String text  String label        if  context    null            ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  context getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE           ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText label  text           if  clipboard    null    clip    null              return          clipboard setPrimaryClip clip

User · Answer

To enable the standard copy paste for TextView  U can choose one of the following   Change in layout file  add below property to your TextView  android textIsSelectable  true    In your Java class write this line two set the grammatically    myTextView setTextIsSelectable true    And long press on the TextView you can see copy paste action bar

User · Answer

Googling brings you to android content ClipboardManager and you could decide  as I did  that Clipboard is not available on API  lt  11  because the documentation page says  Since  API Level 11    There are actually two classes  second one extending the first - android text ClipboardManager and android content ClipboardManager   android text ClipboardManager is existing since API 1  but it works only with text content   android content ClipboardManager is the preferred way to work with clipboard  but it s not available on API Level  lt  11  Honeycomb    To get any of them you need the following code   ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE     But for API  lt  11 you have to import android text ClipboardManager and for API    11 android content ClipboardManager

User · Answer

ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    if  clipboard    null    clip    null      return  clipboard setPrimaryClip clip     And import import android content ClipboardManager

User · Answer

Unless your app is the default input method editor  IME  or is the app that currently has focus  your app cannot access clipboard data on Android 10 or higher  https   developer android com about versions 10 privacy changes clipboard-data

User · Answer

FlySwat already gave the correct answer  I am just sharing the complete answer   Use ClipboardManager setPrimaryClip  http   developer android com reference android content ClipboardManager html  method   ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    clipboard setPrimaryClip clip      Where label   is a User-visible label for the clip data and text is the actual text in the clip  According to official docs   It is important to use this import    import android content ClipboardManager

User · Answer

Use ClipboardManager setPrimaryClip method   import android content ClipboardManager           ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    clipboard setPrimaryClip clip     ClipboardManager API reference

User · Answer

Here is some code to implement some copy and paste functions from EditText  thanks to Warpzit for version check   You can hook these to your button s onclick event   public void copy View v              int startSelection   txtNotes getSelectionStart        int endSelection   txtNotes getSelectionEnd              if   txtNotes getText      null   amp  amp   endSelection  gt  startSelection                  String selectedText   txtNotes getText   toString   substring startSelection  endSelection                           int sdk   android os Build VERSION SDK INT          if sdk  lt  android os Build VERSION CODES HONEYCOMB                android text ClipboardManager clipboard    android text ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE               clipboard setText selectedText             else               android content ClipboardManager clipboard    android content ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE                android content ClipData clip   android content ClipData newPlainText  WordKeeper  selectedText               clipboard setPrimaryClip clip                         public void paste View v        int sdk   android os Build VERSION SDK INT      if  sdk  lt  android os Build VERSION CODES HONEYCOMB            android text ClipboardManager clipboard    android text ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE           if  clipboard getText      null                txtNotes getText   insert txtNotes getSelectionStart    clipboard getText                     else           android content ClipboardManager clipboard    android content ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE           android content ClipData Item item   clipboard getPrimaryClip   getItemAt 0           if  item getText      null                txtNotes getText   insert txtNotes getSelectionStart    item getText

User · Answer

public void onClick  View v         switch  v getId                  case R id ButtonCopy              copyToClipBoard                break          case R id ButtonPaste              pasteFromClipBoard                break          default              Log d TAG   OnClick  Unknown View Received                 break              Copy EditCopy text to the ClipBoard private void copyToClipBoard          ClipboardManager clipMan    ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE       clipMan setPrimaryClip editCopy getText         you can try this

User · Answer

Here is some code to implement some copy and paste functions from EditText  thanks to Warpzit for version check   You can hook these to your button s onclick event   public void copy View v              int startSelection   txtNotes getSelectionStart        int endSelection   txtNotes getSelectionEnd              if   txtNotes getText      null   amp  amp   endSelection  gt  startSelection                  String selectedText   txtNotes getText   toString   substring startSelection  endSelection                           int sdk   android os Build VERSION SDK INT          if sdk  lt  android os Build VERSION CODES HONEYCOMB                android text ClipboardManager clipboard    android text ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE               clipboard setText selectedText             else               android content ClipboardManager clipboard    android content ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE                android content ClipData clip   android content ClipData newPlainText  WordKeeper  selectedText               clipboard setPrimaryClip clip                         public void paste View v        int sdk   android os Build VERSION SDK INT      if  sdk  lt  android os Build VERSION CODES HONEYCOMB            android text ClipboardManager clipboard    android text ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE           if  clipboard getText      null                txtNotes getText   insert txtNotes getSelectionStart    clipboard getText                     else           android content ClipboardManager clipboard    android content ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE           android content ClipData Item item   clipboard getPrimaryClip   getItemAt 0           if  item getText      null                txtNotes getText   insert txtNotes getSelectionStart    item getText

User · Answer

For Kotlin  we can use the following method  You can paste this method inside an activity or fragment   fun copyToClipBoard context  Context  message  String         val clipBoard   context getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE  as ClipboardManager     val clipData   ClipData newPlainText  label  message      clipBoard setPrimaryClip clipData

User · Answer

Android support library update

As of Android Oreo, the support library only goes down to API 14. Most newer apps probably also have a min API of 14, and thus don't need to worry about the issues with API 11 mentioned in some of the other answers. A lot of the code can be cleaned up. (But see my edit history if you are still supporting lower versions.)

Copy

ClipboardManager clipboard = (ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
ClipData clip = ClipData.newPlainText("label", selectedText);
if (clipboard == null || clip == null) return;
clipboard.setPrimaryClip(clip);

Paste

I'm adding this code as a bonus, because copy/paste is usually done in pairs.

ClipboardManager clipboard = (ClipboardManager) getSystemService(Context.CLIPBOARD_SERVICE);
try {
    CharSequence text = clipboard.getPrimaryClip().getItemAt(0).getText();
} catch (Exception e) {
    return;
}

Notes

Be sure to import the android.content.ClipboardManager version rather than the old android.text.ClipboardManager. Same for ClipData.
If you aren't in an activity you can get the service with context.getSystemService().
I used a try/catch block for getting the paste text because multiple things can be null. You can check each one if you find that way more readable.

User · Answer

Use ClipboardManager setPrimaryClip method   import android content ClipboardManager           ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    clipboard setPrimaryClip clip     ClipboardManager API reference

User · Answer

FlySwat already gave the correct answer  I am just sharing the complete answer   Use ClipboardManager setPrimaryClip  http   developer android com reference android content ClipboardManager html  method   ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    clipboard setPrimaryClip clip      Where label   is a User-visible label for the clip data and text is the actual text in the clip  According to official docs   It is important to use this import    import android content ClipboardManager

User · Answer

To enable the standard copy paste for TextView  U can choose one of the following   Change in layout file  add below property to your TextView  android textIsSelectable  true    In your Java class write this line two set the grammatically    myTextView setTextIsSelectable true    And long press on the TextView you can see copy paste action bar

User · Answer

For Kotlin  we can use the following method  You can paste this method inside an activity or fragment   fun copyToClipBoard context  Context  message  String         val clipBoard   context getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE  as ClipboardManager     val clipData   ClipData newPlainText  label  message      clipBoard setPrimaryClip clipData

User · Answer

For Kotlin use the below code inside the activity  import android content ClipboardManager    val clipBoard   getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE  as ClipboardManager  val clipData   ClipData newPlainText  quot label quot   quot Message to be Copied quot    clipBoard setPrimaryClip clipData

User · Answer

Use ClipboardManager setPrimaryClip method   import android content ClipboardManager           ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    clipboard setPrimaryClip clip     ClipboardManager API reference

User · Answer

public void onClick  View v         switch  v getId                  case R id ButtonCopy              copyToClipBoard                break          case R id ButtonPaste              pasteFromClipBoard                break          default              Log d TAG   OnClick  Unknown View Received                 break              Copy EditCopy text to the ClipBoard private void copyToClipBoard          ClipboardManager clipMan    ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE       clipMan setPrimaryClip editCopy getText         you can try this

User · Answer

Googling brings you to android content ClipboardManager and you could decide  as I did  that Clipboard is not available on API  lt  11  because the documentation page says  Since  API Level 11    There are actually two classes  second one extending the first - android text ClipboardManager and android content ClipboardManager   android text ClipboardManager is existing since API 1  but it works only with text content   android content ClipboardManager is the preferred way to work with clipboard  but it s not available on API Level  lt  11  Honeycomb    To get any of them you need the following code   ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE     But for API  lt  11 you have to import android text ClipboardManager and for API    11 android content ClipboardManager

User · Answer

ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    if  clipboard    null    clip    null      return  clipboard setPrimaryClip clip     And import import android content ClipboardManager

User · Answer

So everyone agree on how this should be done  but since no one want to give a complete solution  here goes   int sdk   android os Build VERSION SDK INT  if sdk  lt  android os Build VERSION CODES HONEYCOMB        android text ClipboardManager clipboard    android text ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE       clipboard setText  text to clip      else       android content ClipboardManager clipboard    android content ClipboardManager  getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE        android content ClipData clip   android content ClipData newPlainText  text label   text to clip        clipboard setPrimaryClip clip       I assume you have something like following declared in manifest    lt uses-sdk android minSdkVersion  7  android targetSdkVersion  14    gt

User · Answer

For Kotlin use the below code inside the activity  import android content ClipboardManager    val clipBoard   getSystemService Context CLIPBOARD SERVICE  as ClipboardManager  val clipData   ClipData newPlainText  quot label quot   quot Message to be Copied quot    clipBoard setPrimaryClip clipData

User · Answer

Unless your app is the default input method editor  IME  or is the app that currently has focus  your app cannot access clipboard data on Android 10 or higher  https   developer android com about versions 10 privacy changes clipboard-data

User · Answer

Here is my working code          Method to code text in clip board        param context context     param text    text what wan to copy in clipboard     param label   label what want to copied     public static void copyCodeInClipBoard Context context  String text  String label        if  context    null            ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  context getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE           ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText label  text           if  clipboard    null    clip    null              return          clipboard setPrimaryClip clip

User · Answer

Use ClipboardManager setPrimaryClip method   import android content ClipboardManager           ClipboardManager clipboard    ClipboardManager  getSystemService CLIPBOARD SERVICE    ClipData clip   ClipData newPlainText  label    Text to copy    clipboard setPrimaryClip clip     ClipboardManager API reference

[android] How to copy text programmatically in my Android app?

Android support library update

Copy

Paste

Notes

Examples related to android

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Examples related to clipboardmanager