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I have selected some text and I want to use shift+insert like I do to paste the currently selected text on Linux. How can I do that on a MacBook?

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  • Did you mean "copied", or "selected"? On Linux I'd use Shift-Insert to paste text I'd selected, but Ctrl-V to paste text I'd copied. I don't know if the former is possible on macOS - I'm hoping someone will prove me wrong!
    – John N
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 8:19
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    @JohnN, selected, sorry
    – GoingMyWay
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 8:29

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I found the answer on Stack Overflow: it's ShiftCommandV to paste selected text, without copying the text first. This might be all you need (I'm delighted it's even possible - I assumed it wasn't); however, you could if you wished remap this key combination to something more like ShiftInsert using one of the apps suggested in the answers to Re-map keys on keyboard.

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    I'm struggling to see how that works. If I have some text selected & want to paste it somewhere, I first have to move the cursor to where I want to paste, which unselects... :/
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 8:55
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    @Tetsujin - it's most useful in a terminal: the cursor position won't change when you select text. Try selecting a command a few lines back, then press Shift-Command-V, or doing the same in vi/emacs/nano.
    – John N
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 8:57
  • Cool, it is right on the mac bash command line and vim.
    – GoingMyWay
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 8:57
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    ah, gotcha. I guess it's unlikely to work anywhere that isn't true, couldn't work in any regular text app.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 8:58
  • @Tetsujin, yeah, that's true, this shortcut is widely used among programmers! And the Macbook is really a arsenal!
    – GoingMyWay
    Commented Feb 20, 2017 at 9:02

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