A visual clipboard system and method are provided, in which drag-and-release operations are employed to move copies of a displayed object onto and off of a predefined clipboard area. When a copy of a displayed object is placed on the predefined clipboard area, the displayed object is visually modified to indicate that the visually-modified copy is docked on the predefined clipboard area, and thus eligible for use in a copy operation. When a copy is removed from the predefined clipboard area and placed in a desired target location, the original appearance of the displayed object is restored.