Published on MuseScore (https://musescore.org)

Copy and paste

    MuseScore supports standard copy, cut, paste and swap with clipboard operations. These commands can be applied to a range of:

    Copy/cut/paste/swap commands are accessed in three ways:

    Summary of commands

    Command Kbd Shortcut (Win) Kbd Shortcut (Mac) Right-click menu Main menu
    Cut Ctrl+X Cmd+X Cut Edit → Cut
    Copy Ctrl+C Cmd+C Copy Edit → Copy
    Paste Ctrl+V Cmd+V Paste Edit → Paste
    Swap with clipboard Ctrl+Shift+X Cmd+Shift+X Swap with Clipboard Edit → Swap with clipboard
    Paste Half Duration Ctrl+Shift+Q Edit → Paste Half Duration
    Paste Double Duration Ctrl+Shift+W Edit → Paste Double Duration

    Note: Before carrying out a copy, cut, paste or swap procedure, you should be in normal mode. Press the Esc key to exit into normal mode.

    Notes

    You can cut, copy, paste or swap notes as follows:

    Copy or cut

    To copy/cut a single chord

    1. Hold down Shift and click on a note in the chord.
    2. Apply a Copy or Cut option (see table above).

    To copy/cut a range of chords

    1. Click on the first note or measure that you want to select.
    2. Shift+Click on the last note or measure that you want to select. A blue rectangle highlights the region you selected.
    3. Apply a Copy or Cut option (see table above).

    Paste

    1. Click on the note or measure where you want your pasted selection to begin.
    2. Apply a Paste option (see table above).

    Swap with Clipboard

    The swap with clipboard operation combines two commands into one: (1) First it overwrites a selected part of the score with the contents of the clipboard, just like the paste command; (2) Secondly, it transfers the overwritten part of the score back to the clipboard, just like the copy command.

    It can be used, for example, to swap two equal-length sections of a score, A and B:

    1. Select section A, then apply the cut command;
    2. Clear the selection (by pressing Esc or clicking on a blank area of the document window);
    3. Press Shift and click on a note at the start of section B. Or, if B begins at the start of a measure, you can also simply select the measure;
    4. Apply a Swap with clipboard option (see table above).
    5. Section B is now in the clipboard. Paste it back to the blank area of score left by step "1."

    Copy pitch of a single note only

    It is possible to copy the pitch of a note only (and no other properties), by clicking on the notehead and applying the standard copy and paste, or copy and swap procedure. The pitch of the destination note changes to match that of the copied note but the duration remains the same.

    Other elements

    Some elements such as staff text, dynamics, fingering, etc. can be cut, copied and pasted only one at a time. However, other elements support "multiple-selection" cut/copy/paste: such as articulations (sforzato, staccato etc.), fretboard diagrams, and chord symbols.

    Note: The Swap with clipboard command is only intended for use with sections of music and not other score elements.

    Copy or cut

    1. Select the element (or elements).
    2. Apply a Copy or Cut option (see table above).

    Paste

    1. Click on the note where you want your pasted selection to begin.
    2. Apply one of the Paste options (see table above).

    In the case of articulations, they are pasted to the destination notes in exactly the same order (continuous or intermittent) as they were in the initial selection.

    Quick repeat

    To quickly copy and paste a note, measure, or passage:

    1. Select a chord, measure, or passage as described above.
    2. Press R .

    MuseScore copies and pastes the selected notation to a point immediately after the last note in the selection. Any existing music in the destination range is replaced.

    Duplicate

    To instantaneously copy and paste a text element, line, or other object:

    1. Hold down Ctrl+Shift (Mac: Cmd+Shift), click on the element and drag it anywhere in the score.
    2. Release the mouse button, and the selected element is cloned to the new location.

    Paste half/double duration (version 3.1 and above)

    These commands allows you to copy/cut a section of the score, then paste it back anywhere with all the note durations either halved or doubled.

    1. In Normal mode, select a range of notes in the score;
    2. Cut or copy the range;
    3. Select a destination note (or measure);
    4. From the menu, select one of the following:
      • Edit→Paste Half Duration.
      • Edit→Paste Double Duration.

    or use keyboard shortcuts:

    Selection filter

    The Selection Filter allows you to choose exactly which voices and elements you want to include in your selection.

    The Selection Filter appears by default below the Palettes. To change the viewing location, see Viewing and Navigation: Side panels.

    Example: Suppose you want to copy measures 1 and 2 in the following passage (see image), to give measures 3 and 4:

    Selection filter example

    1. Make sure the Selection Filter is displayed (see above);
    2. Uncheck the "Articulations & Ornaments" and "Slurs" tickboxes;
    3. Copy and paste the desired measures (in this example, 1-2 into 3-4).

    Note: The Selection Filter works with the swap with clipboard command as well.

    See also