Copy and Paste Text to the Clipboard with pyperclip in Python
In Python, pyperclip allows you to copy text to the clipboard, paste text from the clipboard, and even monitor the clipboard for updates.
- pyperclip · PyPI
- asweigart/pyperclip: Python module for cross-platform clipboard functions.
- Welcome to Pyperclip’s documentation! — Pyperclip 1.5 documentation
import pyperclip
pyperclip.copy('text to be copied')
print(pyperclip.paste())
# text to be copied
This article covers the following topics.
Note that pandas also offers functions to process clipboard contents as a DataFrame.
- pandas: Get clipboard contents as DataFrame with read_clipboard()
- pandas: Copy DataFrame to the clipboard with to_clipboard()
As will be discussed in the final section, pyperclip is limited to handling only text (str). You can get the image from the clipboard using Pillow.
The following content is verified with pyperclip version 1.8.2. Be aware that behavior may vary in different versions.
How to install pyperclip
Pyperclip can be installed using the pip command (or pip3 depending on the environment).
$ pip install pyperclip
On Linux, you'll need the xclip or xsel command (installed via apt, etc.), and the gtk or PyQt4 modules (installed via pip). Refer to the official documentation for details.
Copy text to the clipboard: pyperclip.copy()
Use pyperclip.copy() to copy text to the clipboard.
pyperclip.copy('text to be copied')
Paste (get) text from the clipboard: pyperclip.paste()
Use pyperclip.paste() to paste (get) text from the clipboard.
pyperclip.copy('text to be copied')
print(pyperclip.paste())
# text to be copied
print(type(pyperclip.paste()))
# <class 'str'>
Of course, it is also possible to assign the result to a variable.
s = pyperclip.paste()
print(s)
# text to be copied
Monitor the clipboard
Use pyperclip.waitForPaste() and pyperclip.waitForNewPaste() to monitor the clipboard.
pyperclip.waitForPaste()
pyperclip.waitForPaste() waits for new text when the clipboard is empty and returns the text once copied.
In the following example, the text some text is copied to the clipboard while waiting.
pyperclip.copy('')
print(pyperclip.waitForPaste())
# some text
If pyperclip.waitForPaste() is executed while the clipboard already contains text, it immediately returns the existing text without waiting.
pyperclip.copy('original text')
print(pyperclip.waitForPaste())
# original text
pyperclip.waitForNewPaste()
When executed, pyperclip.waitForNewPaste() waits for and returns new text once the clipboard is updated.
In the following example, the text new text is copied to the clipboard while waiting.
pyperclip.copy('original text')
print(pyperclip.waitForNewPaste())
# new text
Specify a wait time
Both pyperclip.waitForPaste() and pyperclip.waitForNewPaste() accept a wait time in seconds as an argument. If no new text is copied within this period, they raise a PyperclipTimeoutException.
# pyperclip.waitForNewPaste(5)
# PyperclipTimeoutException: waitForNewPaste() timed out after 5 seconds.
An example of exception handling is as follows.
try:
s = pyperclip.waitForNewPaste(5)
except pyperclip.PyperclipTimeoutException:
s = 'No change'
print(s)
# No change
Note: pyperclip can only handle text (str)
Pyperclip treats all copied content as strings (str).
Even if a number is copied using pyperclip.copy(), pyperclip.paste() returns it as a string (str).
pyperclip.copy(100)
print(pyperclip.paste())
# 100
print(type(pyperclip.paste()))
# <class 'str'>
Use int() or float() to convert a string to a number.
i = int(pyperclip.paste())
print(i)
# 100
print(type(i))
# <class 'int'>
If an image is copied to the clipboard, pyperclip.paste() returns an empty string (''). Images from the clipboard can be obtained using Pillow.