Last updated: January 2, 2023
Sometimes you browse the net and you see information that seems to be interesting. Then you may have a reflex, that of copy/paste of what you have just seen to share it for example.
It's also useful when you need to gather information quickly and want to sort it out later. You do a whole lot of copy/pasting and refine your searches later with a clear head.
Except that you may have encountered a funny case on some web pages. Indeed, by walking around on it, you are simply impossible to copy/paste and for some, it was even downright impossible for you to right click.
So, no, it's not a bug that comes from you, but rather a desire of the person behind the website, except that sometimes, it can quickly become annoying for you to use.
Fortunately, as so often in computing, when you put up a wall, sometimes you just have to go through the little hidden path next to it to manage to get around it and we will teach you how to do it in this article.
The reasons why it is impossible to copy/paste
So, at first glance, we tend not to really understand the reasons that can push a website to do not allow users to copy/paste, but very often, it is for a reason that is very down to earth.
Indeed, you have probably noticed that while wandering around the internet, especially when it comes to searching for information other than what might appear on a classic daily newspaper website, we encounter a fairly common phenomenon.
This phenomenon is simply called plagiarism. The goal is simple, either directly paste an entire article from another site or make an approximate translation of the latter and paste it.
Generally, these people do not bother to copy their articles by hand, but do a lot of copy/pasting directly on the site. Well, it is often for them that these measures are put in place, but it turns out that it is also annoying for ordinary mortals.
Just try switching browsers
The first thing we can advise you to do when faced with a web page that simply refuses to let you do a copy/paste, is totry to open this same web page in another browser.
Indeed, each browser, although it appears from the outside to work relatively the same way, in fact operates in a way that can sometimes be quite different in its architecture.
So, there is a way and especially on sites with fairly tight budgets or more limited knowledge in the world of IT than this ban on copy/paste, it has not been implemented on all browsers.
So try the most well-known ones and if after someone you still can't copy/paste on this site, you will have to move on to the next method to be able to succeed.
Go directly to the source code of the page
This method is simple and yet it tends to scare a lot of people. Indeed, she will ask go to the source code of the page and some are afraid that it is illegal.
It sure looks like something you might see in a movie with hackers, but it's actually nothing too serious. This is schematically the lines of code for your browser to make a nice layout.
We will then have the right to lots of things that do not interest us at all, but on the other hand, we will also have direct access to the text of the page. However, in this source code of the page, we cannot restrict access to the content.
From then on, you will be able to do as you see fit and copy part of this page. Be careful though, this obviously comes with a downside. This is because it is impossible to copy the specific layout. You will simply have the text with the font of the source code for example.
In addition, on pages that are going to be very busy, with many images for example, you will also have to sort between the parts that concern the article itself and the others.
But then, how to access this source code will you be tempted to read us? Well it's simple, you just need to click on Control and U simultaneously.
Be careful though, be aware that as it is possible to deactivate the right click, it is possible to do so with the display of the source code.
Disable JavaScript in your web browser
Finally, if nothing works, the last thing to do is disable JavaScript temporarily to prevent the program that is blocking you from starting.
For this, there are different methods depending on your browser.
On the Google Chrome browser
- Launch Google Chrome and click on the three dots button at the top right of the screen.
- Select Settings.
- Click on Confidentialité et sécurité.
- There, go to site settings and finally javascript.
- You can then choose to do not allow sites to use JavaScript.
To directly access the Javascript settings, you can type this command directly in the address bar: chrome://settings/content/javascript
On the Firefox web browser
- On Firefox the procedure is a little more complex. Type the following message in the address bar to get started “about: config".
- Then confirm that you are aware of the risks and want to proceed.
- Once it is done you will see a whole list appear, type in the search bar “javascript. Enabled" to go faster.
- Double-click the button More + and you can change the value to True to activate it or False to turn it off.
You can also install add-ons that allow you to disable JavaScript:
- NoScript – allows you to not allow JavaScript for sites of your choice.
- Ghostery – allows you to block scripts from websites you don't trust.
Disable JavaScript on Microsoft Edge Browser
- On Edge, you will have to click on the three small dots then go to the settings.
- Once done click on Cookies and site permissions located on the left.
- Scroll down to the section All permissions and then select Javascript.
- Finally, disable JavaScript by toggling the buttons Authorized « Enable " sure " deactivate ».
On the Opera browser
On Opera this looks a bit like the manipulation on Chrome. Indeed, you must first go to the advanced settings menu.
Then go to security and look for Javascript. You will again have the possibility of activating it via a button.