Whenever you cut or copy information in an Office program, such as Excel, you can place the data on both the Windows Clipboard and the Office Clipboard. When you copy information to the Office Clipboard, you append the information to the Office Clipboard instead of replacing what is already there.

With multiple items stored on the Office Clipboard, you can then paste the items either individually or as a group. To use the Office Clipboard, you first need to open it. Use the dialog launcher on the bottom right of the Home?Clipboard group to toggle the Clipboard task pane on and off.

After you open the Clipboard task pane, select the first cell or range that you want to copy to the Office Clipboard and copy it by using any of the preceding techniques. Repeat this process, selecting the next cell or range that you want to copy. As soon as you copy the information, the Office Clipboard task pane shows you the number of items that you’ve copied and a brief description (it will hold up to 24 items). Figure 14-17 shows the Office Clipboard with five copied items.

When you’re ready to paste information, select the cell into which you want to paste information. To paste an individual item, click it in the Clipboard task pane. To paste all the items that you’ve copied, click the Paste All button.

You can clear the contents of the Office Clipboard by clicking the Clear All button. The following items about the Office Clipboard and its functioning are worth noting:

• Excel pastes the contents of the Windows Clipboard when you paste either by choosing Home? Clipboard?Paste, by pressing Ctrl+V, or by right-clicking to choose Paste from the shortcut menu.
• The last item that you cut or copied appears on both the Office Clipboard and the Windows Clipboard.
• Clearing the Office Clipboard also clears the Windows Clipboard.

FIGURE 14-17
Use the Clipboard task pane to copy and paste multiple items.

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