Can't paste "Copy as path"

I can select file(s) with the "Copy as path" function by the various methods, but when I try to paste it anywhere (internal, external, hosted storage), the "Paste" option is greyed out, and a manual "Ctrl-V" doesn't do anything either. All desired destination drives are not write protected, and there are no attribute restrictions on the desired source files.

Here are alternatives to what you are trying to do:

Teligence said:

All desired destination drives are not write protected

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I found those words strange.
You do realise that the copied path is just text and that it needs to be pasted into an existing file such as a text file, Word document, Excel document ...?
You cannot merely go to a drive/folder in File explorer and paste into nothingness.

Denis

Try3 said:

You cannot merely go to a drive/folder in File explorer and paste into nothingness.

Denis

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Yes, I can now see, I think that's what the OP was trying

Teligence said:

... but when I try to paste it anywhere (internal, external, hosted storage) ..

Click to expand...

@Teligence
If you want shortcut/context to copy/move files, try this li'l registry tweak

Try3 said:

I found those words strange.
You do realise that the copied path is just text and that it needs to be pasted into an existing file such as a text file, Word document, Excel document ...?
You cannot merely go to a drive/folder in File explorer and paste into nothingness.

Denis

Click to expand...

You're a "power user" on this forum and you don't know that hard drives can be write protected? If any drive is write protected, they cannot be written to, copied to, pasted to, etc.

I do know that.

Denis

So, after Denis's comment a couple months ago and actually researching the "Copy as path" function, I discovered that the "Copy as path" option is not what I initially presumed. My initial assumption was that it would replicate the file(s)/folder(s) themselves - including the drive path. For instance, If I selected (copy as path) the file located at "C:\Users\Public\Documents\to-do-list.txt", and pasted it in "d:\c-backups" that I would end up with a pasted file at something like "d:\c-backups\Users\Public\Documents\to-do-list.txt" or "d:\c-backups\c\Users\Public\Documents\to-do-list.txt".

My assumption was that it would provide a means for users to have easy means to manually create file/folder backups off-drive that included the path structure so that if the original was deleted, renamed, etc. that there would be a means for easy manual file/folder restoration without the use of a more cumbersome backup app.

Silly me. You know what they say about those who assume...

idgat said:

Yes, I can now see, I think that's what the OP was trying



@Teligence
If you want shortcut/context to copy/move files, try this li'l registry tweak

Add or Remove "Copy To folder" and "Move To folder" Context Menu in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove "Copy To folder" and "Move to folder" to the context menu for your account or all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11. When you press and hold or right click on selected file(s) and folder(s), click/tap on Show more options, and click/tap on Copy...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

Thanks Shawn - that's not what I was looking for, but still, it's something that I've missed in the more recent Windows versions...