How to get Clipboard data in Chrome Extension?

Question

I'm having a hard time finding any recent info on how to add a listener for "Ctrl+C", fetching clipboard data, and then writing back to clipboard all in a Chrome Extension. All of the old code that i found was for the older versions that are now deprecated.

Answer 1

Basically you can manipulate clipboard using document.execCommand('paste|copy|cut').

• You'll need to specify "clipboardWrite" and/or "clipboardRead" permissions in manifest.

  "clipboardRead" Required if the extension or app uses document.execCommand('paste').

  "clipboardWrite" Indicates the extension or app uses document.execCommand('copy') or document.execCommand('cut'). This permission is required for hosted apps; it's recommended for extensions and packaged apps.

• Create <input> element (or <textarea>)

• Put focus to it
• Call document.execCommand('paste')
• Grab you string from <input> value attribute.

This worked for me to copy data to clipboard.