Learn how to copy a full Coda doc, copy pages from one doc to another, and disable copying for your docs.
Whether you need to copy an entire doc or a specific page, you can do so in just a few clicks. Instead of spending time copying and pasting between docs, use Coda’s built-in copy doc and copy page functions. And if you’re a doc owner who wants to prevent others from copying your doc (or portions of your doc), you can even disable copying. Read on to learn more.
💡 Copying docs and pages, as described in this article, will create disconnected copies of your data. If you instead want to sync live, connected data from one doc to another, consider our sync pages feature.
Within this article, you’ll find...
Copy an entire doc
You can easily duplicate entire docs with a few clicks. When a doc is copied, all pages, subpages, tables, automations, and data are copied over. The new doc will be completely disconnected from the original, meaning that changes to one doc do not impact the other.
💡 Are there certain docs that are frequently copied within your workspace? If so, consider turning these docs into custom templates for an even easier copy experience.
To copy an entire doc, follow these steps:
In the upper-right corner of the doc, click on the three-dot menu
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Select Copy doc from the list of options.
Note: If the Copy option is greyed out, this is likely because the doc owner has disabled copying. See the section below to learn more.
In the name field, type the name for the new doc. Otherwise, the name will default to “Copy of [original doc name].”
If you do not want to include comments, suggestions, and page authors when copying, toggle this option off.
Select the folder and (if applicable) workspace for the new doc.
Finally, click Copy.
The new doc will be created and will open in a new tab. If the original doc had any Packs set up, you will be prompted to connect to those Packs again in the newly created doc. You can select new accounts for each Pack, or skip this step and set up Pack connections later. Learn more about connecting Pack accounts here.
Copy a page to a new doc
Sometimes you need to copy only a specific page to a new or existing doc. But who has time to copy/paste? Good news - you can copy a page to another doc with a few clicks of your mouse.
Simply follow these steps:
In the page list on the left edge of the doc, hover over the name of the page you want to copy and click on the three-dot menu (...) that appears. Hover over Add to doc and select Copy to doc.
Either select New doc to create a doc using this page, or find and select the existing doc you’d like to copy into.
If the page contains tables or subpages, hit Next to proceed to the copy options. If your page doesn’t contain any tables or subpages, simply hit Copy.
If the page has subpages, you will then be prompted to choose whether these subpages should be included when copying. By default, we have this option toggled on, but you can turn it off if you prefer to exclude the subpages.
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If the page contains tables, you will then be asked which rows you want to include in the copy. Choose between the following options:
All rows, including those hidden by a filter
Visible rows only
No rows, just column headers (Choose this option if you wish to copy the structure of the table but none of the data)
Once you’ve selected your copy options, click Copy to finalize.
ℹ️ A few things to note about copying pages to new docs:
When a page is copied, your tables will no longer talk to each other across docs. The copied page will also not be connected to the original doc. Do not delete the original page you copy if you need it to still connect to another page in your original doc.
Copying a page does not relocate your original page. If you don’t want two copies available in your workspace, be sure to go back to the original doc and delete the original page after copying. Please keep in mind the previous point - do not delete the original page if information within it connects to another page in the original doc.
If copying has been disabled for a doc, you will not be able to copy a page from the doc into another doc.
Need to share a page with a co-worker but can’t share the whole doc? Just copy that page to a new doc, and share that new doc with them.
Maybe you like the structure of a page, and you want to use it in a different doc. Copying a page to a new doc is an easy way to create your own template.
Disable doc copying
Doc owners have the option to disabling copying of their docs. When copying is disabled, no one (other than the doc owner) can copy the doc, regardless of their doc permissions. This will prevent multiple forms of copying including copy and pasting, copying the entire doc, and copying individual pages into new docs. Disabling copying will also apply to the published version of the doc.
Copying is enabled by default, so a doc owner must follow the steps below in order to disable:
Within the doc, click on Share in the upper right corner
In the top-right corner of the Share dialog, click on the slider icon to open the advanced settings
Toggle off the Allow anyone to copy this doc option
If you wish to re-enable copying at any point, simply follow the steps above and flip the toggle on.
Other copy methods
Beyond the built-in copy doc and copy page functions, there are some additional options for copying data across Coda docs.
Copy and paste between docs: If you ever need to copy just a portion of a page or a single table, there’s always the old standby: copy and paste. You can copy and paste within or across Coda docs. On a Mac, use ⌘ + C to copy and ⌘ + V to paste. On a PC, use Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste. Learn more about copy and pasting in Coda here.
Sync pages: Whereas copying creates two disconnected versions of a page, sync pages allow you to pull specific pages from one Coda doc into another while still keeping the information connected. You can make changes to the synced page and have those changes reflected in the original page, ensuring one source of truth. Learn more about sync pages here.
Cross-doc tables: Similar to sync pages, Cross-doc tables let you sync a connected version of a table into a separate doc. Unlike creating a copy of a table, Cross-doc tables ensure that the table data remains in sync between docs. Check out this article to learn more.
Templates: Custom templates allow you to create and share your organization’s favorite docs - 1:1 docs, team hubs, writeups, PRDs, etc. - with your team in template form, so they can get started quickly. Team members can easily find and copy these templates into their own docs, without having to also copy over and delete unnecessary content. Learn more here.
Copy button actions: To make copying docs and pages even easier for others, you can add Copy doc, Copy page to doc, or Duplicate page buttons to the canvas of your doc. Any Doc Maker with access to your doc can simply click these buttons to kick off copying.
FAQs
How do I duplicate a page within the same doc?
If you want to duplicate a page within a doc - rather than copying the page out to a separate doc - you can do so by simply clicking on the page menu, then selecting Duplicate page. For more details, check out this article.
How do I copy a published doc?
If the owner of the doc has permitted copies to be made, you should see a Copy Doc button in the upper-right corner of the doc. If there is no Copy Doc option available, this indicates that the doc owner has disabled the ability for others to copy their doc.
How do I make a doc copyable?
To encourage others to copy your doc, you can add a button to the canvas of your doc that uses “copy doc” action. Doc Makers with access to the doc can click the button to make a copy of the doc, which will then live in their workspace.
Alternatively, Doc Makers with access to your doc can always create a copy by going through the doc title menu. Check out the section above on copying entire docs to learn more.
How do I prevent someone from copying my doc?
If you are the doc owner, you can prevent people from copying your doc (published or unpublished) by disabling copying. Click on Share in the upper right corner of the doc, then click the slider icon to open the advanced share options. Here, just toggle off the Allow others to copy this doc option. Learn more about this setting in the section above.
What happens to comments, suggestions, and page authors when I copy a doc?
By default, comments, suggestions, and page authors are included when you copy a working doc. If you’d like to remove these components from your copy, toggle the Copy comments, suggestions, and page authors to off when selecting where your doc copy will live in your workspace.
When you copy a published doc, comments, suggestions, and authors are automatically purged from your duplicate copy.
What happens to Pack connections when I copy a doc?
When you copy a doc, any Packs in the original doc will be carried over to the new doc, but some of the connections may be lost. If you owned any of the Pack connections in the original doc, those connections will be preserved in the copy. But any connections owned by others will be lost, and you will be prompted to connect your own Pack account to continue using those connections.
How do I make a template for my team?
With custom templates, you can templatize docs or pages that your team might use frequently. Members of your organization can quickly add these templates to their own docs or use them to create new docs. For instance, if your organization uses the 1:1 format for managers and their direct reports, it’s a great idea to create a 1:1 doc template. Managers can use this template to quickly create a doc for every new report. Check out this article on custom templates to learn more.