Any web browser allows us to select any element of a web, both text and images, and copy it to the Windows clipboard. With this, what we achieve is to make a verbatim copy of the elements that we have selected to paste said copy into any other program. However, there are elements that do not copy well with these functions, such as tables or rich objects, losing information (such as columns) when using conventional copy functions. Luckily, thanks to Edge‘s new copy feature this is going to change.
Microsoft is taking the development of its new browser very seriously, including all kinds of functions and features that may be useful to its users. One of the latest news that has reached the browser, and that we can already test in the Canary branch of it, is Smart Copy , which will change the way in which we select and copy content from the browser.
How Smart Copy works in Edge
Smart Copy is, broadly speaking, a selection tool that will allow us to intelligently select all the elements that we want to copy. This tool can be launched using the keyboard shortcut Control + Shift + X , and we will automatically see how the cursor turns into a cross. Then we can select the text and all the elements that we want to copy.
When we release the mouse button we will see a button called ” Copy “. By clicking on it we will automatically transfer all this information to the clipboard.
Edge will take care of making a smart copy , keeping all the properties of the text. For example, if we have selected elements from a table, they will be copied correctly tabulated so that they can be pasted into Excel or a plain text editor, but keeping their separations. The same happens, for example, if we copy rich text.
Thanks to Smart Copy we will also be able to copy entire paragraphs without having to select them. And it also works with hyperlinks, thus avoiding clicking on them by mistake as is often the case when using the classic selection method with these elements.
Smart Copy in Chrome
For now, this feature is exclusive to Microsoft Edge. However, as all the features that it provides are implemented in the Chromium code , it is very easy that, in the near future, we will see a similar function in the Google browser, although it is true that it is not strictly necessary in this one. As Chrome works right now, if we select any text, such as a table, it already saves the proportion of rows and columns. The only thing that could be implemented is the selection tool that we have seen, which is useful. But otherwise, Google’s browser has been intelligently copying items for a long time.
Available on Edge 89 “Canary”
At the moment, this function is in the testing phase, so there may be problems when copying some elements of some web pages. Therefore, to be able to test it, it is necessary to be using Edge Canary, the development version of the browser. In addition, it is necessary to make sure that we have the latest available compilation of this browser installed.
Microsoft is going to great lengths to turn Edge into what was once Internet Explorer and regain much of the market share lost years ago. It is true that it still has a long way to go, but the functions and features that it is bringing to this browser are certainly very useful for all users. And the best is yet to come.