Copy, Paste and Delete Objects

Simple Manipulation Commands

There is a small handful of commands for manipulating objects, which just require a single click or key shortcut. These are detailed below.

Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete

Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete are very basic, and very well-known commands, both inside and outside Inkscape.

Some users prefer to access these commands using buttons on the Commands Bar. Although there is no Delete button on the commands bar, using Cut, without being followed by Paste, works like a delete button.

Copy, Cut, and Paste buttons

Or some users may prefer to use the Edit menu, where all these commands are found: Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.

Alternatively, it’s also possible to use keyboard shortcuts for all these commands. If you are not familiar with keyboard shortcuts, you can find the master list on the Inkscape website. For a quick reference, see below.

Icon	Keyboard Shortcut	Name of the Command and What it Does
	Ctrl + c	Copy: copies whatever is selected on the canvas
	Ctrl + x	Cut: cuts whatever is selected on the canvas, holding it in case it is needed to be pasted; if it is not pasted, it is deleted
	Ctrl + v	Paste: pastes whatever was cut or copied, to the location of the mouse, on the canvas
none	Delete	deletes whatever is selected on the canvas

Duplicate

Duplicate button on the Commands bar

The location of the Duplicate button on the Commands bar is shown above. Or users may prefer to use Edit menu > Duplicate. Or alternatively, you may choose to use the keyboard shortcut, which can also be seen in the Edit menu.

Icon	Keyboard Shortcut	Name of the Command and What it Does
	Ctrl + d	Duplicate: duplicates whatever is selected on the canvas

Duplicate is different from Copy, and in computer graphics, is generally preferred over copying.

When you first click Duplicate, it looks as if nothing has happened on the canvas. However actually, an exact duplicate of the selection has been created, and is lying precisely on top of the original.

Using the mouse, you can drag it away, and see that the original object is still hiding underneath the duplicate. Drag the duplicate to wherever you need to use it, and save the original in a safe place, if you want to keep it.

Lock/Unlock and Show/Hide Objects

Locking and hiding objects have a few common uses. They can both be used to help manage a complex canvas. And they can both be used to protect objects from being accidentally selected, moved or edited by an errant mouse, or perhaps even another user of the same file.

Objects can be locked by first selecting the objects to be locked. Then place the mouse over the object, and right-click > Lock Selected Objects. To unlock, click Object menu > Unlock All.

If you are clicking on an object, but the selection arrows/handles will not appear, perhaps it has been locked. Try clicking Object menu > Unlock All.

The process is identical for Hiding objects. First, select all the objects to be hidden. Then right-click > Hide selected objects. To Show (or Unhide), click Object menu > Unhide All.

Todo

Re-check before publishing. There may be current work on Lock/Hide: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/-/issues/12903