Why Does Windows 10/11 Copy and Paste Stop Working After A While?

Hi,

Can you try a "clean boot" and see if it makes a difference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

If a clean boot does resolve the issue there is a section in the article "How to determine what is causing the problem by performing a clean boot".

Reset the computer to start normally afterward.

As a general precaution create a System Restore Point prior to initiating a clean boot.

I've seen similar since December. It is only on a W11 PC that is left on 24/7 and it shows up once a day. I've slowly been disabling applications one by one, disabled remote desktop, done some of the online suggestions like restarting rdpclip.exe. I've gone beyond that and disabled any application that may tangentially access the clipboard to see if there is any difference there.

When it breaks, Snipping Tool will even show an error "couldn't copy that image" when attempting to copy screenshots to the clipboard.

I'm suspicious of Intel ARC control, and HP Smart (which are both apps Microsoft forcibly sideloads without user choice, alert, or consent as of December), as disabling or uninstalling them tends to make this behavior stop until Windows tries to reinstall them. There's likely a deeper level interaction happening, and these are just bellwether apps that appear when the problem tends to.

I've since modified the registry to keep Windows from attempting to sideload software, as whenever it does, the problem reappears, however Windows Updates will reset the registry keys and then the unwanted applications will reinstall within the next couple of days, along with the issue returning. (That alone should be a no-no. Don't install software on a computer without giving the user choice.)

Restart or logout/login both resolve the clipboard issue, like what you saw, so it is something that degrades in the existing user session while the display is locked.

If the PC is shut off at end of day and then turned on each morning, the problem is never experienced.

It seems the computer has to be locked and left alone by the user for some time (overnight or shorter), occasionally entering/exiting modern sleep, and running background maintenance tasks to manifest this bug.

I've seen similar since December. It is only on a W11 PC that is left on 24/7 and it shows up once a day. I've slowly been disabling applications one by one, disabled remote desktop, done some of the online suggestions like restarting rdpclip.exe. I've gone beyond that and disabled any application that may tangentially access the clipboard to see if there is any difference there.

When it breaks, Snipping Tool will even show an error "couldn't copy that image" when attempting to copy screenshots to the clipboard.

I'm suspicious of Intel ARC control, and HP Smart (which are both apps Microsoft forcibly sideloads without user choice, alert, or consent as of December), as disabling or uninstalling them tends to make this behavior stop until Windows tries to reinstall them. There's likely a deeper level interaction happening, and these are just bellwether apps that appear when the problem tends to.

I've since modified the registry to keep Windows from attempting to sideload software, as whenever it does, the problem reappears, however Windows Updates will reset the registry keys and then the unwanted applications will reinstall within the next couple of days, along with the issue returning. (That alone should be a no-no. Don't install software on a computer without giving the user choice.)

Restart or logout/login both resolve the clipboard issue, like what you saw, so it is something that degrades in the existing user session while the display is locked.

If the PC is shut off at end of day and then turned on each morning, the problem is never experienced.

It seems the computer has to be locked and left alone by the user for some time (overnight or shorter), occasionally entering/exiting modern sleep, and running background maintenance tasks to manifest this bug.

I have had the same problem since December 2023, I have a new Dell Desktop running Windows 11 and Microsoft student. I have opened up SEVEN tickets with Microsoft and now have been successful escalated to level 2 support, whom I've been working with for the last week with no success. I have reloaded Windows 11 and Office 3 times and created a new profile with no success. I agree there is an application running in the background causing the corruption to the clipboard. I too have neem disabling apps to try and identify the problem with no success. I heard that the person who wrote the clipboard code since retired, and the new software programmers are unfamiliar with the code to fix it, so users suffer. My copy and paste might work for several hours or several days before failing then a re-boot is required to restore it, which makes it very painful if you're working on document's. I've worked in IT for over 40 years and was a mainframe incident manager for a very large automotive company and this simple problem is driving me crazy since my mind is always in trouble shooting mode. I have directed Microsoft Level 2 support to all the comments on the WEB and suggest they read them and escalate this problem to the HIGHEST level in Microsoft, the problem has been around since 2021.

We have also noticed this issue starting to emerge for a small population of our users; I suspect this is more widespread but not getting reported by all. I can add that all users have the same Win 11 Pro build, with the same model of laptop and very close, if not identical, specs. One group uses a custom (built in-house) WPF desktop application and has been impacted the most by this issue as they rely on copy-and-paste functionality a great deal as they enter content from disparate sources into the custom application. I am suspicious of peripheral services related to Copilot; we don't endorse or enable the application by default, but I am curious about how some of its services may (or may not) be related to the ever-growing AI presence in our Windows products.

Has anything been revealed to you in the past month since the last post on this topic here? My users are frustrated and I am considering a third-party copy/paste tool TeraCopy if I can't find a resolution to meet the needs of my user base.

I'm using a new DELL desktop with no additional 3rd party applications, out of the box with windows 11 and Microsoft office/student. I've been working with Microsoft level II support with no success or answers. I'm having a difficult time getting them to except the problem. I'm now refusing to reload windows and office, it's been done 3 times and only causes me grief to reset everything. I have another level II call scheduled for next week. It took seven incidents reports before i was able to get it escalated in Microsoft. Microsoft appears refuse to GOOGLE the words "Copy and Paste problems windows 11", if they did, they would see that there is a problem. The problem has been around for at least two tears from what I read.