The user can cut, copy, and paste text in an MLE field by using the Shift+Delete, Ctrl+Insert, and Shift+Insert key combinations, respectively. An application-either by itself or in response to the user-can cut, copy, and paste text by using the MLM_CUT, MLM_COPY, and MLM_PASTE messages. The MLM_CUT and MLM_COPY messages copy the selected text to the clipboard. The MLM_CUT message also deletes the text from the MLE field; MLM_COPY does not. The MLM_PASTE message copies the text from the clipboard to the current position in the MLE field, replacing any existing text with the copied text. An application can delete the selected text without copying it to the clipboard by using the MLM_CLEAR message.

An application also can copy the selected text from an MLE field to a buffer by using the MLM_QUERYSELTEXT message. This message does not affect the contents of the clipboard.