Clipboard: readText() method

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

The readText() method of the Clipboard interface returns a Promise which fulfils with a copy of the textual contents of the system clipboard.

Note: To read non-text contents from the clipboard, use the read() method instead. You can write text to the clipboard using writeText().

Syntax

js
readText()

Parameters

None.

Return value

A Promise that resolves with a string containing the textual contents of the clipboard.

Returns an empty string if the clipboard is empty, does not contain text, or does not include a textual representation among the objects representing the clipboard's contents.

Exceptions

NotAllowedError DOMException

Thrown if the access to read the clipboard is not allowed.

NotFoundError DOMException

Thrown if the clipboard indicates that it contains data that can be represented as a text but is unable to provide a textual representation.

Security considerations

Reading from the clipboard can only be done in a secure context.

Additional security requirements are covered in the Security consideration section of the API overview topic.

Examples

This example retrieves the textual contents of the clipboard and inserts the returned text into a selected element's contents.

js
const destination = document.getElementById("outbox");
destinationImage.addEventListener("click", () => {
  navigator.clipboard
    .readText()
    .then((clipText) => (destination.innerText = clipText));
});

Specifications

Specification
Clipboard API and events
# dom-clipboard-readtext

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also