> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.grid.glideapps.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.grid.glideapps.com/extended-quickstart-guide/copy-and-paste-support.md).

# Copy and paste support

Copy and Paste support is built in to Glide Data Grid. It is not enabled by default to ensure developers are expecting its behavior.

### Copy

By default copy is not enabled, to enabled copy implement the `getCellsForSelection` callback. The callback returns results as row-major ordering.

> `getCellsForSelection` is used instead of `getCellContent` to allow optimization when fetching large amounts of data outside of the visible region.

This example uses the built in generic function which simply calls `getContent`, which is inefficient but fine for a local data source.

```tsx
return <DataEditor {...rest} getCellsForSelection={true} />
```

Congratulations. Copy now works! You may wish to implement [`getCellsForSelection` ](/api/dataeditor/important-props.md#getcellsforselection)with a more efficient means that lots of calls to `getCellContent`. It is also worth knowing that normally `getCellContent` is only called for cells within the current view. Once you pass `true` to `getCellsForSelection` this promise no longer holds. This is another reason an implementor may choose to handle this callback directly.

### Paste

The easiest way to enable paste is to set `onPaste` to true when `onCellEdited` is already working. The Glide Data Grid will automatically parse the paste buffer and send cell update events.

```tsx
return <DataEditor {...rest} onCellEdited={onCellEdited} onPaste={true} />
```

If desired, paste events can be handled manually. Passing a callback to `onPaste` will instead receive a parsed verison of the pasted data. Returning `true` from the callback will cause the paste event to be handled the same as before, emitting `onCellEdited`. Returning `false` will prevent the edit callback from being emitted.

```tsx
return <DataEditor
    {...rest}
    onCellEdited={onCellEdited}
    onPaste={(target, value) => {
        window.alert(JSON.stringify({ target, value }));
        return false;
    }}
/>
```

Paste, like copy, has an efficiency gain to be had. Instead of listening to `onCellEdited` an implementor may choose to implement `onCellsEdited`. This receives the entire paste buffer at once for all cells pasted and allows more efficient writes to the backend without having to manually handle paste buffer parsing.