History
If you press Control-C on most PCs, or Command-C on a Mac, nothing on screen tells you it worked. It's been that way since the mid-1980s. Of all the interface guidelines we read, only one asked for a successful copy to the clipboard to show anything: a 1992 Windows guide made the pointer flash for the pen's Copy gesture21. The earliest systems didn't need a signal, because they kept the clipboard on screen. This page follows how that view disappeared and why nothing replaced it.
Where copy and paste began
Gypsy had no Copy command. You marked the text you wanted, and pressing PASTE at the target made the copy1. The Copy command we know, which fills a clipboard and leaves the original alone, first appears in Apple's Lisa standards in 19804.
- . Larry Tesler and Timothy Mott describe Gypsy at Xerox PARC. It has no Copy key. The user marks a source, shown by a dotted underline, and presses PASTE to copy it to the target1. The 1978 handbook describes the same model2.
- . The manual for Bravo, the Alto editor Gypsy grew from, marks a copy selection with a dotted underline3.
- . The Lisa User Interface Standards define Copy as Cut, "except that the selection is not changed or deleted"4.
- . The Xerox Star spec has a Copy key and no clipboard. Copy "proceeds exactly as with Move, except that a slightly different cursor shape is used"5.
- . The Lisa ships with the Clipboard as a desktop object6. LisaWrite's tutorial is the only manual found that has the user watch a copy arrive on the Clipboard7.
- . The Macintosh manual teaches Show Clipboard after a Cut. Copy appears only in its reference section8.
- . Inside Macintosh says an app "can show" the Clipboard in a window. Copy leaves the selection in the document9.
- . The Windows 1.0 user's guide tells users to run CLIPBRD.EXE to see what they copied10.
Tesler wrote in 2012 that "The term copy and paste appears to have originated in Gypsy", and that Gypsy had "dedicated keys for cut, copy, paste, and undo"11. Both Gypsy manuals list only CUT and PASTE, so the keys are UNCONFIRMED. Tesler hedges the first claim himself, and it is UNCONFIRMED too12.
The visible clipboard
The first answer to "did it copy?" was a window: Gypsy and Bravo kept the copied text on screen13. The Lisa put the Clipboard on the desktop, and many owners left it open6. Then the Mac and Windows hid it behind a command, Show Clipboard or CLIPBRD.EXE810. From then on you had to go and look, and nothing took the window's place.
| System | Where the content showed | On screen by default |
|---|---|---|
| Gypsy, 1975 | The waste basket window, "so that the operator can see what has been cut"1 | Yes1 |
| Bravo, 1979 | The system window, with the last deletion and the last insertion3 | Yes3 |
| Xerox Star, 1981 | No clipboard. The copy appears at the destination, selected5 | The copy itself is on screen5 |
| Lisa, 1983 | The Clipboard window, which the user can open but not edit6 | If the user leaves it open, as the Owner's Guide says many people do6 |
| Macintosh, 1984 and 1985 | A Clipboard window, shown "only when requested". A 1983 draft said apps "will usually" have one912 | No. The manuals teach Show Clipboard after a Cut, not after a Copy813 |
| Windows 1.0, 3.0 and 3.1 | The Clipboard viewer, CLIPBRD.EXE in 1.010. The 3.0 and 3.1 guides still point users to it1415 | No. The user runs it10 |
Copy guidelines
Five guides say the user should see the result of an action, yet none applies that to its own Copy entry. IBM's 1989 guide comes closest, since it asks for a message when there's no other visible sign that an action finished, and that describes a copy exactly19. Where the guides do talk about copy, they talk about copy failure. They disable it, dim it, or beep.
| Guideline | Copy entry | General feedback rule | Nothing selected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside Macintosh, 1985 | "Copy puts a copy of the selection in the Clipboard, but the selection also remains in the document"9 | "there should always be some sort of feedback", said of clicks9 | Disable Copy. In TextEdit, Copy empties the scrap with no message9 |
| Apple HIG, 1987 | "Copy puts a duplicate of the selection in the Clipboard"16 | "Keep the user informed. Provide immediate feedback"16 | A beep, then an alert, for Cut with no selection. Nothing for Copy16 |
| Windows style guide, 1987 | Control+Insert. Nothing specified for a successful copy17. If memory or OpenClipboard fails, Microsoft's sample Copy handler stops with no message18 | The word "feedback" does not appear. Beeps and message boxes are for errors17 | Disable Copy17 |
| IBM CUA, 1987 | SC26-4351 is not online, so what it said is UNCONFIRMED. The 1989 guide replaced it19 | ||
| IBM on CUA, 1988 | Copying text is left to the application. No clipboard is mentioned20 | "Feedback is provided for almost every user interaction", and "Audio beeps are used when users' action requests do not cause normally expected results"20 | Not found |
| IBM CUA, 1989 | A definition only. The Cut entry says what the user sees, the Copy entry does not19 | "Issue an information message to tell users that an action has been completed if there is no other visible indication"19 | "present a message that tells users to select an object"19 |
| Windows design guide, 1992 | No acknowledgement from the menu or the keys. For the pen Copy gesture, "Feedback: copy pointer flashes."21 | "The user should receive immediate and tangible feedback for actions within an application"21 | Dim Copy21 |
| IBM CUA, 1992 | "When a user copies an object to the clipboard, do not change the state of the source object"22 | Not checked | Copy shows unavailable, and choosing it beeps22 |
Menu hint
Classic Mac OS lit up the Edit menu's title when you pressed Command-C. That part holds to this day92325. But it lit up the title for every Command key, so it told you a shortcut ran, not that you copied. With nothing selected, Copy was disabled, so the title stayed dark and nothing beeped923.
| Claim | Verdict | What the sources show |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Mac OS highlighted the menu title when a Command key fired | CONFIRMED | MenuKey "highlights the appropriate menu title" for any enabled item, Copy included, in the 1983 draft, in 1985 and 1992, and in Carbon in 20049122324 |
| The system beeped when the command was disabled | REFUTED | For a disabled item MenuKey returned 0 and drew nothing. Apple told apps to disable Copy when nothing was selected923. Whether any app beeped is UNCONFIRMED |
| Current macOS still highlights the title | Observed, no doc | Seen by the site's author on 25 September 202625 |
| Current macOS beeps on Command-C with nothing selected | UNCONFIRMED | Since Mac OS X 10.5 a disabled key equivalent reaches the app, and an unhandled key-down beeps. No doc says so for Copy262728 |
Star's rule
Star shows silence was a choice. It had no clipboard. You pressed COPY, the cursor changed shape, a prompt asked where to put the copy, and the copy arrived there already selected5. Its designers wrote the rule down:
"You never invoke a command or push a key and have nothing visible happen"29
Why copy got silent
None of our sources says why copy went silent. A copy changes nothing in the document, so by default there's nothing to see. The early systems didn't need a signal because the clipboard was on screen136. When it moved behind a command, nothing replaced it910. Beeps and message boxes were kept for errors1721, and the guides spent their words on the failed copy41719. Each of them had a feedback rule that should have covered copy916192021. None of them applied it.
21st-century feedback
That was the 1980s. Here's what happens today when you copy. We checked each system's docs and, where the code is open, its source.
Android is the only system we checked that confirms an ordinary copy. Since Android 13, every clipboard write brings up an overlay with a preview3032. The rest stay silent for text. At most they confirm special copies, like a screenshot or a copied link, where nothing on screen shows what you copied.
| System | Ordinary copy | Special copies it confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Android 13 and later | An overlay with a preview, after every clipboard write303132 | Every clipboard write, images and links included32 |
| iOS and iPadOS | None documented333435 | None documented333435 |
| macOS 26 | None documented36 | A screenshot to the clipboard plays the shutter sound, observed on macOS 27.037 |
| Windows 10 and 11 | None documented38 | A Snipping Tool screenshot39 |
| ChromeOS | None documented, apart from a nudge shown three times at most4041 | A screenshot, a sharesheet Copy and Capture mode text414243 |
| Chrome on desktop | None for text44 | "Link copied" and "Image copied", on by default since Chrome 13244454647 |
| GNOME | None, from the source4849 | Its own screenshots48 |
| KDE Plasma | None, from the source50 | Not checked |
Google now tells Android developers to drop their own "Copied" toast on Android 13 and later, because users would see the message twice30. Once the system confirms a copy, apps don't have to.
Text editors
Editors come closest to the proposal. Neovim, Vim, Emacs with pulsar, and plugins for VS Code and JetBrains flash the copied region for a moment. Every one of those flashes is off until you turn it on, so you only get it if you know it exists.
| Editor | Feedback | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Neovim | Built-in vim.hl.on_yank flashes a yank for 150 ms5152 | Off until the user adds an autocmd5152 |
| Vim | The hlyank package flashes a yank for 300 ms, since 9.1.12285354 | Off until packadd53 |
| Emacs with pulsar | Pulses the region after a copy5556 | Off until pulsar-global-mode55 |
| Emacs | Blinks the cursor to the mark for 1 s, or prints "Copied text from", only when the region is not highlighted5758 | On5758 |
| VS Code | Nothing built in59. VSCodeVim flashes a yank for 200 ms60. Highlight on Copy flashes a copy for 200 ms61 | Off, or on once the extension is installed6061 |
| JetBrains IDEs | Nothing for a selection62. IdeaVim flashes a yank for 300 ms63. Highlight on Copy blinks once64 | Off, or on once the plugin is installed6364 |
| Zed | Flashes a yank for 200 ms in vim mode65 | Off, because vim mode is off65 |
| Helix | Names the register it yanked to, in the status line66 | On66 |
Web buttons
Pages confirm their own copies because the browser doesn't. The W3C Clipboard API, which pages use to write to the clipboard, says nothing about feedback after a write84. So every site builds its own "Copied!", and each one looks and lasts differently. MDN shows it for 1 second and GOV.UK for 56970.
| Component | After a copy | For screen readers |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Primer | The copy icon becomes a check for 2 s67 | "Copied!" in a polite live region67 |
| IBM Carbon | "Copied!" in the tooltip for 2 s68 | The button's label changes68 |
| MDN | "Copied" for 1 s, or "Copy failed!" for 3 s69 | Visible text only69 |
| GOV.UK Design System site | "Code copied" for 5 s70 | An assertive live region70 |
Screen reader announcements
Screen readers are a separate channel, and an uneven one. Orca speaks after any copy71. NVDA and TalkBack speak only after copies they make themselves7375. We found nothing documented for Narrator or VoiceOver767778.
| Reader | Says | When |
|---|---|---|
| Orca | "Copied selection to clipboard."71 | After any Ctrl+C that changes the clipboard71. Untested on Wayland without GPaste |
| JAWS | "copied selection to clipboard."72 | After Ctrl+C, per its 2022 script manual72 |
| NVDA | "Copied to clipboard:" and the text73 | Only after copies NVDA makes itself, such as Ctrl+C in browse mode7374 |
| TalkBack | "copied" and the text75 | After its own copy action75 |
| Android's overlay | Posts "Text copied", "Image copied" or "Content copied" to a polite live region32 | After every clipboard write32. Whether TalkBack reads it is unconfirmed |
| Narrator and VoiceOver | None documented767778 | After a user's Ctrl+C or Command-C |
The KDE objection
KDE's objection is to notifications, and it's fair. A banner after every copy would get in the way. But the KDE HIG also says how to show success, by "visually changing something on the screen related to the task that succeeded"81. A flash on the copied text does that. It obscures nothing, it shows up where you're already looking, and it's gone in about 200 ms.
"it would get really annoying to see big chunky system notifications appearing and covering up content in your windows all the time in response to a very common action"79
- . A KDE Discuss thread asks for a small "Copied 1 file" notification. Nate Graham suggests the tray icon could shake instead79.
- . Nate closes the matching bug as WONTFIX, citing the KDE HIG8081.
- . GNOME's design team opens "Clipboard feedback & history", whose first goal is "Show visible feedback when copying"82.
- . Nate confirms a new KDE request and retitles it "Show OSD after copy"83.
Sources
The research notes behind this page are in research/copy-paste-history.md, research/menu-title-lead.md and research/precedent.md. Sources were read on 24 and 25 September 2026.
- Tesler, Larry, and Timothy Mott. Gypsy: The Ginn Typescript System. Xerox PARC, 20 April 1975. Pages 2, 4 to 6, 8 and 9. https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/memos_1975/Gypsy_The_Ginn_Typescript_System_Apr75.pdf
- Gypsy Operator's Handbook. Xerox PARC and XEOS, 11 May 1978. Pages 10, 11, 19 and 20. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_xeroxaltogandbookMay1978_991002
- Lampson, Butler, and Charles Simonyi. "Bravo Manual." In Alto User's Handbook, Xerox PARC, September 1979. Pages 36 and 56. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_xeroxaltoA79_13724537
- Lisa User Interface Standards, Lisa Document #420. Apple Computer, 20 September 1980. Sections 44 and 46, pp. 15 and 16. https://archive.org/download/apple-hig/1980_Lisa_UI_Standards.pdf
- STAR Release 1 Product Software Functional Specification, version 5.3. Xerox Office Products Division, 15 April 1981. Section 5, pp. 30 and 31. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_xeroxstarSoftwareFunctionalSpecificationVer5.31981_32605652
- Lisa Owner's Guide. Apple Computer, 1983. Pages B13 and B17. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_applelisaorsGuide1983_10448859
- LisaWrite. Apple Computer, 1983. Page B15. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_applelisaoisaWrite1983_9642237
- Macintosh, owner's manual, part 030-0687. Apple Computer, 1983, shipped with the Macintosh 128K in 1984. Pages 33, 34 and 61. https://archive.org/details/macintosh-manual-1984-030-0687
- Inside Macintosh, Volume I. Apple Computer, Addison-Wesley, 1985. Pages I-15, I-31, I-58, I-59, I-356 to I-358, I-386 and I-453. https://vintageapple.org/inside_o/pdf/Inside_Macintosh_Volume_I_1985.pdf
- Microsoft Windows User's Guide. Microsoft, 1985, for Windows 1.0. Pages 92 and 93. https://archive.org/details/microsoft-windows-1.0-users-guide
- Tesler, Larry. "A Personal History of Modeless Text Editing and Cut/Copy-Paste." ACM Interactions 19(4), July and August 2012, pp. 70 to 75. A retrospective, cited by section: Influences, Today. https://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/july-august-2012/a-personal-history-of-modeless-text-editing-and-cut-copy-paste
- Inside Macintosh pre-release binder. Apple Computer, 1983 to 1984. Scrap Manager draft dated 10/21/83, and Menu Manager draft dated 11/1/83, pp. 21 and 22. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_applemacIn84_27699101
- MacWrite, manual, reorder M1502. Apple Computer, 1983. Page 33. https://archive.org/details/macwrite
- Microsoft Windows User's Guide. Microsoft, September 1989, for Windows 3.0. Page 59. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_microsoftwUsersGuide198909_23166485
- Microsoft Windows User's Guide, PC21669-0492. Microsoft, April 1992, for Windows 3.1. Page 61. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_microsoftwindows3.1PC216690492Windows3.1UsersGuide_27129713
- Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop Interface. Apple Computer, Addison-Wesley, 1987. Pages 7, 62 and 83. https://archive.org/download/apple-hig/Apple_Human_Interface_Guidelines_1987.pdf
- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit: Application Style Guide, version 2.0. Microsoft, 1987. Sections 2.8 (p. 23), 3.5 (pp. 30 and 31), 9.1 (p. 75) and 9.3 (p. 76). https://www.os2museum.com/files/docs/win20sdk/windows-2.0-sdk-styleguide-1987.pdf
- Microsoft Windows 2.0 SDK: Programmer's Learning Guide. Microsoft, 1987. Section 13.2.1, pp. 230 and 231. https://archive.org/details/part-no-00477-document-no-050051052-200-102-1087-microsoft-windows-2.0-sdk-progr
- Systems Application Architecture, Common User Access: Basic Interface Design Guide, SC26-4583-00. IBM, December 1989. Topics FRONT_1.4, 1.2.4.3, 2.5.4.1.2, 3.5.7.4 and 3.11.5. https://archive.org/details/ibm-saa-cua-basic-interface-design-guide
- Berry, R. E. "Common User Access: A consistent and usable human-computer interface for the SAA environments." IBM Systems Journal 27(3), 1988. Pages 286 and 297. https://archive.org/details/ibmsj2703E
- The Windows Interface: An Application Design Guide, PC28921-0692. Microsoft, June 1992. Sections 1.1.6 (p. 4) and 3.6.2 (p. 42), Table 5.5 (p. 94) and Table 10.2 (p. 197). https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_microsoftwindows3.1SDK1992PC289210692WindowsInterf_13508361
- Object-Oriented Interface Design: IBM Common User Access Guidelines, SC34-4399-00. IBM, December 1992. Topics 2.2.6 and 2.2.19. https://archive.org/details/sc34-4399-00
- Inside Macintosh: Macintosh Toolbox Essentials. Apple Computer, Addison-Wesley, 1992. Chapter 3, pp. 3-8, 3-79 and 3-117. https://vintageapple.org/inside_r/pdf/Macintosh_TB_Essentials_1992.pdf
- Carbon Menu Manager Reference. Apple Computer, developer.apple.com, archived 2004. Function group 14, MenuEvent: https://web.archive.org/web/20040903215520/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Carbon/Reference/Menu_Manager/menu_mgr_ref/function_group_14.html. Function group 6, HiliteMenu: https://web.archive.org/web/20040911052046/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Carbon/Reference/Menu_Manager/menu_mgr_ref/function_group_6.html
- Direct observation of a Command-key equivalent highlighting the menu title on current macOS, by the site's author, 2026-09-25. Not a published source.
- AppKit Release Notes, older releases, Leopard section, "Disabled key equivalents passed through". Apple, developer.apple.com archive. https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/releasenotes/AppKit/RN-AppKitOlderNotes/index.html
- NSResponder,
noResponder(for:). Apple Developer Documentation, AppKit. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsresponder/noresponder(for:) - Cocoa Event Handling Guide, "Handling Key Events". Apple, developer.apple.com archive. https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/EventOverview/HandlingKeyEvents/HandlingKeyEvents.html
- Smith, David Canfield, Charles Irby, Ralph Kimball, Bill Verplank, and Eric Harslem. "Designing the Star User Interface." BYTE 7(4), April 1982. Page 262. https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-04-rescan
- Copy and paste. Android Developers, Views guide. Last updated 2026-09-22. https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/touch-and-input/copy-paste
- Features and APIs Overview, Android 13, "Clipboard preview". Android Developers. https://developer.android.com/about/versions/13/features
- AOSP
platform/frameworks/baseat tag android-16.0.0_r4, commit 45034f0. Cited by file and line, inpackages/SystemUI/src/com/android/systemui/clipboardoverlay/,packages/SystemUI/res/,packages/SystemUI/src/com/android/systemui/screenshot/FloatingWindowUtil.java,core/java/android/content/ClipDescription.javaandservices/core/java/com/android/server/clipboard/ClipboardService.java. https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/45034f0663f960d9ee5fb0a101a4732b71f6e2f4/packages/SystemUI/src/com/android/systemui/clipboardoverlay/ - Select, edit, and move text on iPhone. Apple Support, iPhone User Guide. https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/select-and-edit-text-iph1a9cae52c/ios
- Select, edit, and move text on iPad. Apple Support, iPad User Guide. https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/select-edit-and-move-text-ipadac2fea3c/ipados
- Copy and paste between your iPhone and other Apple devices. Apple Support, iPhone User Guide. https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iph220ea8dca/ios
- How to copy and paste on Mac. Apple Support, article 102553. https://support.apple.com/en-us/102553
- Direct observation of Control-Shift-Command-4 on macOS 27.0, build 26A428, by the site's author, 2026-09-25. The shutter sound played and no thumbnail appeared. Not a published source.
- Using the clipboard. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/using-the-clipboard
- Copy the window or screen contents. Microsoft Support, Office. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/copy-the-window-or-screen-contents
- Chromium,
ash/clipboard/clipboard_nudge_constants.h, main, read 2026-09-25. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/ash/clipboard/clipboard_nudge_constants.h - Chromium,
ash/ash_strings.grd, main, read 2026-09-25. Cited by message name. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/ash/ash_strings.grd - Chromium,
ash/capture_mode/capture_mode_controller.cc, main, read 2026-09-25. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/ash/capture_mode/capture_mode_controller.cc - Chromium,
chrome/app/sharesheet_strings.grdp, main, read 2026-09-25. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/chrome/app/sharesheet_strings.grdp - Chromium,
chrome/browser/renderer_context_menu/render_view_context_menu.cc, main, read 2026-09-25. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/chrome/browser/renderer_context_menu/render_view_context_menu.cc - Chromium,
chrome/app/generated_resources.grd, main, read 2026-09-25. Cited by message name. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/chrome/app/generated_resources.grd - Chromium,
chrome/browser/ui/toasts/toast_features.cc, main, read 2026-09-25. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/refs/heads/main/chrome/browser/ui/toasts/toast_features.cc - Chromium commit 6f629f3, "Enable the toast framework and the mvp toasts by default", 1 November 2024. First in Chrome 132.0.6813.0, per Chromium Dash. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/6f629f3fc569ab553702d3cd6fa72e71e6a42e38
- GNOME/gnome-shell at tag 51.0, commit 2177bdf.
js/ui/screenshot.js,js/ui/shellEntry.js. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/tree/2177bdf9624b2d285de7c1d34274073d3769d6b8 - GNOME/gtk at tag 4.24.0, commit 1f47f36,
gtk/gtktext.c,gtk_text_copy_clipboard. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/blob/1f47f368b17701e693918fcd078436b39d4354d1/gtk/gtktext.c#L4350 - plasma/plasma-workspace at tag v6.7.5, commit cc1ab79.
klipper/andapplets/clipboard/. https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-workspace/-/tree/cc1ab7963f94a9b76836412855caed6b94066188 - Neovim
:help lua.txt,vim.hl.on_yank(), at tag v0.12.5, commit 5885a30. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/neovim/neovim/v0.12.5/runtime/doc/lua.txt - neovim/neovim at tag v0.12.5, commit 5885a30. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/neovim/neovim/tree/5885a30e1e1225349079e7a1c4a3848aa8e43e42
- vim/vim at tag v9.2.1129, commit 7854b1d. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/vim/vim/tree/7854b1dbdb50b6264cb8b54cdd90e042d19f93b4
- vim/vim commit 83d7440, "runtime(hlyank): add the hlyank package", 19 March 2025. https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/83d74404bb355956e9ce23fa62dd5bf1f2549c05
- protesilaos/pulsar at tag 1.4.0, commit 76dc758.
pulsar.el,README.org(the manual) andCHANGELOG.org, cited by file and line. https://github.com/protesilaos/pulsar/tree/76dc758361378e1c863151cb7febceb4d5218f6f - protesilaos/pulsar,
pulsar.elat tag 1.2.0, commit 2b9c973, and at tag 1.3.0, commit 4c4853d. https://github.com/protesilaos/pulsar/blob/2b9c9736b6ff3559acf2a65e3a29574dc7787523/pulsar.el and https://github.com/protesilaos/pulsar/blob/4c4853dace0638356c5b66048aee3d3dcd2c0ee2/pulsar.el - GNU Emacs at tag emacs-31.1, commit a360712 (GitHub mirror).
lisp/simple.elandlisp/pulse.el, cited by file and line. https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/tree/a360712c9d272d950d8d8255ef74570f7e90b7d9 - GNU Emacs Manual, Transient Mark mode,
doc/emacs/mark.texiat tag emacs-31.1, commit a360712. https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/blob/a360712c9d272d950d8d8255ef74570f7e90b7d9/doc/emacs/mark.texi - microsoft/vscode at tag 1.139.1, commit 04c0d99. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/tree/04c0d99f4fb0d8afe6ce4f0c58e31e183ac3e4b1
- VSCodeVim/Vim at tag v1.32.4, commit ee59bae,
package.json. https://github.com/VSCodeVim/Vim/blob/ee59baec19a071384128b34c5de87cd24b11d36b/package.json - mguellsegarra/highlight-on-copy at tag v1.1.6, commit 9a015bb. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/mguellsegarra/highlight-on-copy/tree/9a015bb07ac84c9c93bb7edba05ff7eb50356510
- JetBrains/intellij-community at tag idea/2026.2.3, commit 8062c06. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community/tree/8062c061ff33e22041d9f1844db5b8b8a6b5e4d7
- JetBrains/ideavim at tag 2.47.1, commit c1ae565.
doc/IdeaVim Plugins.mdandVimHighlightedYank.kt. https://github.com/JetBrains/ideavim/tree/c1ae565cfb98be30ea75e4b351e823846c69c3c8 - Hazzajenko/Jetbrains-Highlight-on-Copy at tag v1.0.5, commit 6a57c64. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/Hazzajenko/Jetbrains-Highlight-on-Copy/tree/6a57c641476fc741ad160440429b374b8d9b6f51
- zed-industries/zed at tag v0.233.10, commit 350f338. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/tree/350f33871e84d5ed83a403523e9490b9bf014a94
- helix-editor/helix at tag 25.07.1, commit a05c151,
helix-term/src/commands.rs. https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/blob/a05c151bb6e8e9c65ec390b0ae2afe7a5efd619b/helix-term/src/commands.rs - primer/view_components at tag v0.53.5, commit f617990,
app/components/primer/beta/clipboard_copy.tsandclipboard_copy.html.erb. https://github.com/primer/view_components/tree/f6179900575f776a5d43db722a4dddef2d129551/app/components/primer/beta - carbon-design-system/carbon at tag v11.117.0, commit 7e1d5e5.
packages/react/src/components/Copy/Copy.tsxandCopyButton/CopyButton.tsx. https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/tree/7e1d5e5492fd70ab8ec901114898c12a374cea98/packages/react/src/components - mdn/fred at tag v2.9.2, commit 504a1e3.
components/copy-button/element.jsandl10n/template.ftl. https://github.com/mdn/fred/tree/504a1e37bc05053724d487bc2a8be5c37a18f94e - alphagov/govuk-design-system, main at commit 52b7062, 25 September 2026,
src/javascripts/components/copy.mjs. https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-design-system/blob/52b7062e1cf8171ba7d658de3e0607e767b6d45f/src/javascripts/components/copy.mjs - GNOME/orca at tag 51.0, commit 856433b. Cited by file and line. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/orca/-/tree/856433b61385ba77a2960f281275419a0731b385
- 10.0 Passing Keystrokes and Typing Text with Scripts. Freedom Scientific, JAWS Script Manual. Read from the Wayback snapshot of 19 February 2022, because the live page is behind a bot check. https://web.archive.org/web/20220219230755/https://support.freedomscientific.com/Content/Documents/Other/ScriptManual/10-0_PassingKeystrokesAndTypingTextWithScripts.htm
- nvaccess/nvda at tag release-2026.2, commit f62c980. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/tree/f62c980589d1ac30babf68ad48177e9ad29a2e84
- NVDA What's New,
user_docs/en/changes.mdat release-2026.2, 2024.1 New Features. https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/blob/f62c980589d1ac30babf68ad48177e9ad29a2e84/user_docs/en/changes.md - google/talkback, master at commit 229212f, 23 March 2026. Cited by file and line. https://github.com/google/talkback/tree/229212fdf5842191d0a93fc95d9ca1423b346866
- Complete guide to Narrator. Microsoft Support, What's new, November 2024 entry. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows/narrator/complete-guide-to-narrator
- Use the onscreen keyboard with VoiceOver on iPhone. Apple Support, iPhone User Guide. https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-the-onscreen-keyboard-iph3e2e3d1d/ios
- Announcements tab. Apple Support, VoiceOver Utility User Guide. https://support.apple.com/guide/voiceover/announcements-tab-cpvouverbann/mac
- "Copy and Cut OSD Notification". KDE Discuss, Help, topic 12935, 24 March 2024. Post 1 by Yannik, post 3 by Nate Graham, post 5 by Luis Bocanegra. https://discuss.kde.org/t/copy-and-cut-osd-notification/12935/3
- KDE bug 484390, "OSD Notification for File Operations". Opened 24 March 2024; RESOLVED WONTFIX by Nate Graham, 6 January 2026. https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=484390#c2
- Communicating status changes. KDE Human Interface Guidelines. https://develop.kde.org/hig/status_changes/
- GNOME Design, os-mockups issue 285, "Clipboard feedback & history". Opened by Tobias Bernard, 20 June 2026, open. https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/Design/os-mockups/-/work_items/285
- KDE bug 524218, "Show OSD after copy". Opened 13 August 2026; CONFIRMED and retitled by Nate Graham the same day. https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=524218#c1
- Clipboard API and events. W3C Working Draft, 24 June 2026. https://www.w3.org/TR/clipboard-apis/