How do I copy to the clipboard in JavaScript

Question

What is the best way to copy text to the clipboard? (multi-browser)

I have tried:

function copyToClipboard(text) {
    if (window.clipboardData) { // Internet Explorer
        window.clipboardData.setData("Text", text);
    } else {  
        unsafeWindow.netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege("UniversalXPConnect");  
        const clipboardHelper = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/widget/clipboardhelper;1"].getService(Components.interfaces.nsIClipboardHelper);  
        clipboardHelper.copyString(text);
    }
}

but in Internet Explorer it gives a syntax error. In Firefox, it says unsafeWindow is not defined.

Answer 1

Hello @kartik,

To copy HTML , you can do the following in IE ONLY. This is is fundamentally different from the other methods, as the browser actually visibly selects the content.

// create an editable DIV and append the HTML content you want copied
var editableDiv = document.createElement("div");
with (editableDiv) {
    contentEditable = true;
}     
editableDiv.appendChild(someContentElement);          

// select the editable content and copy it to the clipboard
var r = document.body.createTextRange();
r.moveToElementText(editableDiv);
r.select();  
r.execCommand("Copy");

// deselect, so the browser doesn't leave the element visibly selected
r.moveToElementText(someHiddenDiv);
r.select();   

Hope it helps!!
Thank you!!