Have you ever tried to highlight text on a webpage to copy, only for nothing to happen? You would probably think that something is wrong with the webpage or your cursor/touchpad. When in fact it is the webpage itself that is blocking you.
Yes, some webpages may prevent you from copying their text. As annoying as it can be, there are ways you can avoid it. Here, we’ll explore five ways to copy webpage text when right-clicking isn’t an option.
Why doesn’t the webpage let you right-click on text?
There are many reasons why specific webpages prevent users from copying their text. The short answer is content theft. By doing this the website can keep its content secure. You may also experience this when trying to save images when you are not allowed to right-click.
Some websites may prevent you from copying their text to discourage others from taking their work and possibly passing it off as theirs. Don’t be that person. Websites can use CSS or JavaScript to disable functions such as copy and paste and right-clicking.
But plagiarism of content will not be the only reason for blocking text copy. Some websites believe that disabling the right-click function can improve the user experience, such as preventing users from accidentally clicking links or buttons.
Despite this it may not be beneficial. In this case, you’re trying to copy text, but the website won’t allow you to. Fortunately, there are ways to bypass this.
1. Source Code
This method is best for someone who has a basic knowledge of HTML, which is the code used to create webpages. This method can be confusing for people who are unfamiliar with HTML.
You can view the source code by right-clicking on a webpage and clicking View Page Source from the context menu, or by pressing Ctrl+U. A new tab will open with the HTML code of the webpage.
Plain text will appear in black or white depending on your browser’s theme. Scroll down until you find the text you want to copy, or press Ctrl+F to quickly find it. There, you can click and highlight text and copy it.
Alternatively, you can copy all the HTML code and convert it to text using a conversion site like Word to HTML. Copy all the code and paste it in the HTML tab. The Clean button removes unnecessary code. The Word tab shows you all the contents of the webpage to copy.
2. Inspect Element
You can use the developer tools to copy the text, showing the sidebar with the code on the right and the webpage on the left. To do this, right-click anywhere on the webpage and click Inspect from the context menu.
The Developer Tools should open in the Elements section. If not, click on it from the toolbar at the top. Instead of scrolling, you can press Ctrl+F and start typing the text that will appear in the code for you to copy.
You can use the left icon in the top toolbar or press Ctrl+Shift+C, which allows you to click on an element on a webpage to reveal its location in the element code. If not, click the left arrow in the code to show the text. Now you can copy the text.
3. Disable Javascript
You can enable the copy function on the website by disabling JavaScript. This method will affect the website’s ability to load images and embed images because websites rely on JavaScript. So, make sure you enable JavaScript when you copy the text you want.
To disable JavaScript in Google Chrome, click on the ellipsis (three vertical dots) in the top-right corner and click on Settings from the context menu. Next, click on Privacy & Security from the left side tab and click on the Site Settings section.
Scroll down to the bottom and click on JavaScript from the Content section. In the Custom Behavior section, you can add a website link by clicking the Add button and pasting the URL into the textbox.
Now, go back to the webpage and reload it for the disabling of JavaScript to take effect. You should now be able to copy text. Remember to enable JavaScript by returning to Settings, clicking the three vertical dots, and clicking Remove.
Supreme Copy: Enables right-click, context menu, and selection on websites. However, the extension will be disabled by default as it has the potential to break websites. Therefore, it will need to be enabled on a specific website.
5. Screenshot of the text
You can use the Snipping Tool to take a screenshot by pressing Win + Shift + S on Windows or ⌘ + Shift + 4 on Mac. Windows has four options for snipping, Mac has five options.
Don’t capture unnecessary text; Focus only on what you want. Once you draw a shape around the text, the screenshot will automatically be downloaded to your device.
