Methods and apparatus for displaying thumbnails while copying and pasting

A system provides for a clipboard manager for showing thumbnails in a clipboard while editing a document via a clipboard manager. The clipboard manager allows a user to select data from a second document. Upon selection, the clipboard manager generates a thumbnail that distinctly represents the data and stores the thumbnail and data in a clipboard. The thumbnail contains a miniaturized view of the data. The clipboard manager further allows the user to identify a paste location in the document that is to be edited. The clipboard manager displays the thumbnail in the clipboard in response to the user selecting a paste command. The user can employ the clipboard manager to insert the data at the paste location by selecting the thumbnail from the clipboard.