Larry Tesler, inventor of ‘cut, copy, and paste,’ dies at 74

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Larry Tesler, also known as the computer scientist behind cut, copy and paste, has died at the age of 74.

Born in 1945 in New York, Tesler studied computer science at Stanford. He began his professional journey with Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in 1973. During his stint with Xerox, he developed the cut, copy, and paste – a functionality which will go on to become one of the most commonly used features on computers.

In a humble of CV, Tesler explains his work, “Conceived, implemented and usability-tested GUI (graphical user interface) and IDE (integrated development environment) capabilities that have become standards in the industry, including the ability to:… insert or overwrite text without entering a mode by simply clicking or dragging and then typing… move or copy text without entering a mode using cut/copy and paste… type or paste find & replace text into a form that can be edited before and after searching…” 

Tesler was one of many Xerox employees who joined Apple and Steve Jobs in 1980. According to the Wikipedia entry, Tesler had cited Apple’s better understanding of computers and Xerox’s focus as a photocopier company as the reason for leaving the company. Tesla also contributed in developing Lisa and other Apple computers. Post Apple, he worked with Amazon between 2001 and 2005. He later joined Yahoo which he left in 2008. Since 2009, he was working as an independent consultant.

Paying tribute to Tesler, Xerox said in a tweet: “The inventor of cut/copy & paste, find & replace, and more was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler. Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary ideas. Larry passed away Monday, so please join us in celebrating him.”