# 3.7. Copy and paste

KHexEdit can copy data as pure binary data or as formatted text. The formatted text is stored as seen on screen. Binary data is sent to the clipboard as a MIME message using base64 encoding. KHexEdit can decode this kind of message making it possible to copy and paste data between KHexEdit editor windows or documents. Note that if you paste the MIME encoded clipboard data into an external editor (such as kwrite or Emacs) you will see the MIME message and not the binary data. It might be better to copy as text in this case.

A copy operation can take place either automatically each time a selection has been made or delayed until the user decides to do so (Ctrl-C from the keyboard or from the Edit pulldown menu). The latter mode has the advantage to avoid unnecessary copy operations which can take time on large selections. This behavior is an option and can be selected in the option dialog box.