Effective Ways to Copy and Paste From Restricted Websites

While browsing the internet, have you ever come across valuable information you’d like to include in your presentation, but right-clicking to copy the text is disabled by the website? Fortunately, there are several straightforward methods that allow you to copy and paste content from any website you desire.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Disable JavaScript in Your Browser

Many websites implement JavaScript to restrict the right-click function. By disabling JavaScript for that specific site, you regain the ability to use the right-click and copy functions.

We’ll demonstrate this in Chrome, but the procedure should be similar in other browsers.

Open Chrome and click on the three-dot icon next to your profile picture in the upper-right corner. Choose the Settings option from the dropdown menu.

Select the Security and Privacy option from the left menu, then click on Site settings on the right.

Scroll down and click on JavaScript.

Click on the Add button to block JavaScript on a specific website.

Input the URL of the website from which you want to disable JavaScript in the pop-up window, and click the Add button again.

Return to the site you wish to copy text from and refresh the page. The copy-paste functionality should now be restored.

If you receive the message “For the best experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings” after disabling JavaScript, consider trying one of the other methods outlined in this article.

2. Use Your Browser’s Reading Mode Feature

If you’re using Chrome, a quick solution is to enable the Reading Mode on the webpage that does not permit copy-pasting. This feature minimizes distractions by displaying only text, stripping away images and videos.

The text will appear instantly on the right side in a separate window, allowing you to select and copy it effortlessly.

If you encounter difficulties when trying to copy the text, right-click and opt for Search Google instead of Copy.

This will open a new tab and redirect you to Google Search, where you can copy the text from the search bar.

On Firefox, you can find a similar Reading view by clicking the page-like icon located on the right side of the address bar.

3. Copy Content from the Source Code

If a website allows right-clicking but prevents you from selecting text and media, this method can be quite useful.

Right-click anywhere on the webpage and choose View page source from the context menu, which opens the HTML code of the site.

Scroll through the code to locate the text you need and copy it from there. Although the source code may look complicated with various syntax, the plain text is typically displayed in a more readable format.

Though you can copy sections of text directly from the page source, copying multiple sections will be time-consuming. To expedite the process, consider copying the entire HTML content from the source page.

Visit an HTML-to-text converter like wordhtml.com. Paste the copied HTML content in the HTML tab and click the Clean button to remove unnecessary code, including JavaScript or CSS elements.

Switch to the Word editor tab to easily copy the desired text without any restrictions.

4. Select from Inspect Element

The Inspect Element tool available in almost every web browser is very handy. It enables you to explore the backend of any website and access its source code.

Right-click on the webpage to open a dropdown menu and select the last option, Inspect.

A sidebar will appear on either the right side or the bottom of your screen.

Hover your mouse over the text you want to copy on the webpage. This action will guide you to the corresponding line of code in the Inspect Element window where you can easily select it by double-clicking it. Then, right-click to Copy.

5. Take a Screenshot and Convert to Text

If you wish to copy text from a website, another method is to take a screenshot of the desired content and convert it to text using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) applications.

Press Win + Shift + S to use the snipping tool in Windows, or, if you’re on a Mac, press ⌘ + Shift + 4. Aim to capture only the essential text while avoiding any unnecessary elements.

Visit ocr2edit and choose the Choose File option to upload your screenshot. After uploading, click on the Start button to begin the conversion process.

When the process is complete, a text file will be available for download. Click Download to save the converted text.

Ensure to check the accuracy of the conversion. In our tests, it worked reasonably well, though some text may have been missed.

You can also explore other options for extracting text from images.

6. Utilize a Web Tool

An alternative solution for copy-pasting from a website that restricts functionality is a web tool like Textise.

Simply enter the URL of the troublesome website and click on the Textise button.

A new page featuring just the text will open, allowing you to copy and paste your desired content easily.

This approach is similar to using your browser’s built-in Reader mode, but it offers an alternative if your browser lacks this feature or if it doesn’t work effectively.

7. Install a Browser Extension

If you’ve come across a website that prevents right-clicking, consider installing a browser extension that restores this functionality. For example, you can use the Enable Right-Click extension for Google Chrome.

After adding the extension, navigate to a website with disabled copy-paste and click on the extension icon in the toolbar to activate it.

You should now be able to right-click on websites that previously restricted your ability to copy text. In our tests, the extension worked for some sites; in certain cases, while right-click functionality was restored, the Copy option may not work. In such cases, you can use the Search Google for option as an alternative.

Now that you’ve learned how to copy and paste from virtually any website, your workflow is bound to improve. For further tips on enhancing efficiency, check out our post on converting handwritten documents to text. Additionally, you may find these online summarizer tools useful for condensing text.

Image credit: Freepik. All screenshots courtesy of Alexandra Arici.

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