VNC User Guide

Copying and pasting text between client and host computers

You can copy and paste text between applications running on the client and host computers.

Note: The computer you are pasting to must support the language of the copied text in order for it to be pasted meaningfully. In addition, any formatting applied to the copied text, such as italics, will be lost.

To copy and paste text from an application on the client computer to one on the host:

1. On the client computer, copy the text in the expected way for the platform of the client computer, for example by selecting it and pressing Ctrl-C (Cmd-C on Mac OS X). The text is copied to the Clipboard.

2. Give the VNC Viewer window focus, open the destination application on the host computer, and paste the text in the expected way for the host’s platform, for example by pressing Ctrl-V. (To emulate Cmd-V for a Mac OS X host computer, press Alt-V on a PC keyboard.)

You can copy and paste text from an application on the host computer to one on the client. Note that text copied can also be pasted by all other users connected at the same time as you. To do this:

1. Within the VNC Viewer window, copy the text in the expected way for the platform of the host computer, for example by selecting it and pressing Ctrl-C. (To emulate Cmd-C for a Mac OS X host computer, press Alt-C on a PC keyboard.) The text is copied to the Clipboard.

2. Give the destination application on the client computer focus, and paste the text in the expected way for the client’s platform, for example by pressing Ctrl-V (Cmd-V on Mac OS X).

If copy and paste text fails for any reason, start with Troubleshooting copy and paste text.

Disabling and enabling copy and paste text

You can disable copy and paste text while the current connection is in progress.

To do this, open the VNC Viewer - Options dialog and, on the Inputs tab, turn off Share clipboard with VNC Server. More on this dialog.

You can enable copy and paste text again at any time.

Troubleshooting copy and paste text

If copy and paste text does not work, check the following:

1. Has VNC Viewer been configured to disable copy and paste text? To see how to enable it again, read Disabling and enabling copy and paste text.

2. Has VNC Server been configured to prevent copy and paste text? If this is the case and you do not have access to the host computer, you will need to consult your system administrator or a host computer user. If you do have access to the host computer, and sufficient privileges to configure VNC Server, you may be able to allow it again. For more information, see Preventing copy and paste text.

3. Has VNC Server been configured to prevent you copying and pasting text? If this is the case and you do not have access to the host computer, you will need to consult your system administrator or a host computer user. If you do have access to the host computer, and sufficient privileges to configure VNC Server, you may be able to allow it again. Alternatively, you may be able to connect as a different host computer user and use this feature. For more information, see Restricting features for particular connected users.

4. Does the amount of text being copied and pasted exceeed 256kB? If so, the entire paste operation fails, and the last text copied to the Clipboard is pasted instead.