Clipboard.write()

The Clipboard method write() writes arbitrary data, such as images, to the clipboard. This can be used to implement cut and copy functionality.

The "clipboard-write" permission of the Permissions API, is granted automatically to pages when they are in the active tab.

Syntax

var promise = navigator.clipboard.write(data)

Parameters

data

An array of ClipboardItem objects containing data to be written to the clipboard.

Return value

A Promise which is resolved when the data has been written to the clipboard. The promise is rejected if the clipboard is unable to complete the clipboard access.

Example

This example function replaces the current contents of the clipboard with a specified string.

function setClipboard(text) {
    var type = "text/plain";
    var blob = new Blob([text], { type });
    var data = [new ClipboardItem({ [type]: blob })];

    navigator.clipboard.write(data).then(
        function () {
        /* success */
        },
        function () {
        /* failure */
        }
    );
}

The code begins by creating a new a Blob object. This object is required to construct a ClipboardItem object which is sent to the clipboard. The Blob constructor takes in the content we want to copy and its type. This Blob object can be derived from many sources e.g. a Canvas.

Next, we create a new ClipboardItem object into which the blob will be placed for sending to the clipboard. The key of the object passed to the ClipboardItem constructor indicates the content type, the value indicates the content. Then write() is called, specifying both a fulfillment function and an error function.

Example of copying canvas contents to the clipboard

function copyCanvasContentsToClipboard(canvas, onDone, onError) {
  canvas.toBlob(function (blob) {
    let data = [new ClipboardItem({ [blob.type]: blob })];

    navigator.clipboard.write(data).then(function () {
      onDone();
    }, function (err) {
      onError(err);
    })
  });
}

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• Clipboard API
• Async Clipboard API demo on Glitch
• Image support for Async Clipboard article