Copying and pasting in and out of your IVM

You can copy text into your Sandbox IVM by using the Sandbox Clipboard. It is available in the left-hand side menu of the screen. The Sandbox Clipboard allows you to copy up to 10 kB of text into the Sandbox.

You can copy text into your Sandbox IVM, but you can't copy anything out. This prevents individual-level (red) data from being copied outside the Sandbox. You can copy summary-level green data outside the Sandbox by making a download request.

Please follow these instructions to copy text into your Sandbox IVM:

• Open the Sandbox Clipboard using the left-hand side menu

• Copy your text into the Sandbox Clipboard text area

Keep the Sandbox Clipboard window open until you have pasted the text into your Sandbox IVM.

The text copied into the Sandbox Clipboard text area is copied to the Sandbox IVM Linux clipboard.

• Paste text from the Linux clipboard by using keyboard shortcuts or application menus.

Please note that the middle mouse button uses a different Linux copy-and-paste buffer. Use either keyboard shortcuts or application menus to paste the text from the Linux clipboard.

Paste text using a keyboard shortcut

Most Linux applications in the Sandbox IVM support the following keyboard shortcuts to paste text from the Linux clipboard:

• Windows users: CTRL + V (CTRL + SHIFT + V when in the terminal window)

• Mac users: CMD + V (CMD + SHIFT + V when in the terminal window)

Some applications use a different keyboard shortcut for pasting text from the Linux clipboard. For example, the terminal window uses CTRL + SHIFT + V (Windows users) or CMD + SHIFT + V (Mac users), while Emacs uses CTRL + Y (Windows users) or CMD + Y (Mac users). Please confirm the copy-paste keyboard shortcuts from your application's manual.

Paste text using an application menu

Most graphical Linux applications have a menu action to paste text from the Linux clipboard. For example, the terminal window and Emacs have a 'Paste' menu action.

Troubleshooting

• Check that the Sandbox Clipboard window is open and that it contains your text.

If you close the Sandbox Clipboard window, the Sandbox Clipboard and the Linux clipboard will become empty, and paste will not work.

• Check that you are using the correct keyboard shortcuts to paste text.

• Check if there is an application menu to paste text.

• As a last resort, refresh your browser window and copy your text into the Sandbox Clipboard. This will reconnect the Sandbox Clipboard to the Linux clipboard.

See a tutorial video from the Users' meeting recording 15th June 2021.