Using the Mouse to Copy Command Prompt Text to Clipboard

A useful tip for mousers. Earlier we saw how to copy Command Prompt output to the Windows Clipboard. Did you know that you can accomplish the same using your pointing device (mouse)? Also, you can select a particular section (word or line) and copy it to the Clipboard. Here is how to do so.

1. Create a Command Prompt shortcut (cmd.exe) on the Desktop.

2. Right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut and choose Properties

3. In the Options tab, enable QuickEdit mode, and click OK.

4. Open a Command Prompt window (using the custom shortcut) and type a command.

5. To copy the output, select the text area using the mouse pointer and click the right-mouse button (or press ENTER.)

This tip applies to Windows Vista & Windows 7 as well.

Editor’s note: The above setting works only if you access the Command Prompt using the desktop shortcut that you created earlier. In one of the upcoming articles, we’ll instruct how to make the Quick Edit setting enabled by default, so that it works irrespective of the method you use to access the Command Prompt.