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Copy custom elements with their links between screens

Updated Nov 4, 2026

Copy custom elements with their links between screens

Overview​

Custom elements — the clickable rectangles you draw on a screen with Add Custom Element — can be copied from one screen and pasted onto another, together with the links that make them navigate. Each pasted element is a fresh, independent element with its own link, so editing one afterwards does not touch the original.

Copy and paste work from the standard system clipboard shortcuts while you have the editor open and a screen in view.

Before You Start​

  • The shortcuts act on custom elements only. Guide steps, shared edits, and other overlays on the screen are not included in a copy.
  • Copying writes an identifier to the system clipboard. If you copy anything else — text, an image, a file — anywhere on your device after that, the custom-element paste is disabled until you copy custom elements again.
  • The clipboard holds elements from the current editor session; reloading the editor clears it.

Select the Elements to Copy​

  1. Open the demo in the editor and go to the source screen.
  2. Click the first custom element to select it.
  3. Shift + click each additional custom element on the same screen to add it to the selection. Shift + click a selected element again to remove it from the selection.

Only custom elements on the current screen can be part of one copy; a selection does not span screens.

Copy and Paste​

  1. With one or more custom elements selected, press Cmd + C (macOS) or Ctrl + C (Windows/Linux).
  2. Navigate to the destination screen — in the same demo or in a different one open in another editor tab.
  3. Press Cmd + V / Ctrl + V.

The elements appear on the destination screen at the same position and size they had on the source screen, each carrying its own copy of the original link. Because the links are separate, retargeting one pasted element afterwards leaves the others alone.

Paste is a single transaction. One Undo reverts the whole paste, regardless of how many elements were pasted.

  • External URL links always come across intact.
  • Links to another screen come across when the target screen exists in the destination demo. If the target screen is not in the current demo — for example, because you pasted into a different demo, or the target was deleted since the copy — the element is pasted unlinked, and you can relink it from its property panel.

When the Destination Screen Lacks a Matching Container​

Custom elements can be anchored inside a container on the source screen (for example, a card or a sidebar). When you paste onto a screen that does not have that container, Walnut places those elements relative to the page instead and shows a warning toast:

Check the position of the pasted elements N of them were inside a container this screen does not have, so they were placed relative to the page.

Review the positions and adjust them as needed. Elements whose container does exist on the destination screen are placed inside that container as before.

FAQs​

Can I paste the same copy more than once?​

Yes. The copy stays available until you copy something else anywhere on your device, so you can paste it onto several screens one after another.

Does paste work across browser tabs or demos?​

Yes, as long as both tabs are open in the same editor session. Screen links whose target is not in the destination demo are dropped and the element arrives unlinked.

What is not copied?​

Guide steps, lead forms, and other screen content that is not a custom element are not part of the copy. Only the selected custom elements and their links are carried over.

How do I undo a paste?​

Press Cmd + Z / Ctrl + Z once. The whole paste is reverted as a single step.

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