The clipboard is a structure maintained by Windows that can contain information which is to be copied within or between applications. The clipboard 'knows' the format of the data that it contains, so a text editor will not accidentally paste data of another format (e.g. an image) into its contents. By convention, the clipboard is accessed as a direct response to controls with names such as 'paste', 'cut', 'copy'. It is extremely anti-social to use the clipboard in any other way, as users learn to rely on the contents of the clipboard remaining unchanged unless they explicitly alter them.