Clipboard problems (can not copy/paste) in Windows 11

Anonymous
2023-11-27T07:08:13+00:00

Clipboard stops to working in random time during the working day. Can't copy/paste, clipboard manager is empty. No any special actions done before this: it just stops to work in regular routine. I just have to restart Windows and hope to work for a next few hours.

It's make me crazy to restart my computer few times a day. I have complicated environment with VM's, Docker, IDE, SSH Terminals and should restart it JUST BECAUSE SUDDENLY I HAVE NO CLIPBOARD.

HOW IT'S EVEN POSSIBLE TO BREAK THE CLIPBOARD??? I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT JOKE

Windows 11 is broken! Please fix it!

I know here a lot of people with same issue. Please comment: let's make this problem visible to MS.

Please no generic advises about restart explorer, dism/sfc, troubleshooting and reinstalling my OS.

All of this was tried many times and doesn't solve this deep Windows bug.

My system information:

Windows 11 22H2 (x64), build 22621.2715, all the updates installed (Nov 2023)

Ryzen 7 5800H, 32 Gb RAM

•

UPDATES:

SOLUTION #1 (JUNE 2024): confirmed and tested

As I noticed before, clipboard issue was always after my computer was left for some time switched on. During this my screensaver was shown and SOME BACKGROUND TASKS performed. This caused the issue 100% of time! I was trying to find and disable background tasks - but it doesn't help.

So, here's my solution: don't let PC to get idle. I've installed Caffeinated utility and keep my PC always awake, even when I'm go out for a few hours or night. AND IT WORKS! For 1 month already no more Clipboard Problem, no any restart! So I recommend to try this method.

SOLUTION #2 (doubtful: works for some)

Discovered by Glen Decker, instructions by Kim-LarryPapp

I hope it can help shine a light. You can follow the steps below. Some things to note, I've placed keystrokes in square brackets to indicate the keyboard touches, and the 'WIN' key refers to the Windows Key on the keyboard. (e.g. [ctrl+alt+del])

  • [Win + R] to open the Run Window
  • [services.msc] => [enter]
  • Click the 'Name' column heading to be sure the items are listed in alphabetical, A to Z.
  • Scroll down to find the item listed 'Connected Devices Platform Service' (Служба платформы подключенных устройств)
  • Double-Click the item to open the properties window.
  • Change the 'Start-up Type' in the drop-down to 'Disabled'. Mine was set to 'Automatic (Delayed)'.
  • Reboot

UPDATE FROM SEPTEMBER 2024:

From the moment I discovered solution #1 I have no issues with clipboard at all - for 3 months in a row!

Just using Caffeinated utility or PowerToys Awake - yes, not fix, but stable workaround. At least I can do my job while Microsoft ignores this issue.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-02-03T16:50:22+00:00

    The only thing I found to fix this without restarting Windoze was to use Clipboard Owner Debug (http://pretentiousname.com/miscsoft/#ClipboardOwnerDebug).

    It showed that Logi Options+ owned the clipboard. (I have a Logitech M590 Bluetooth mouse which has a button to switch between two computers.)

    I killed all Logi things running via Task Manager and the clipboard started working again. (The mouse continued to work too... I didn't have to restart any Logi apps.)

    I'm thinking there must be a PowerShell or WMIC command that will tell you what owns the clipboard as ClipboardOwnerDebug seems like overkill unless you're debugging apps. Something like the VBS code here: windows - How to check which application has the clipboard hold? - Super User

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-03-19T20:16:41+00:00

    Time to close all Windows :( I've also been using MS since 1980 and it has been going downhill as of lately. Let's look at the issues:

    1. Copy/Paste Failures
    2. File open (right click in explorer) fails often (esp for pdf files)
    3. mailto links don't work
    4. Is outlook the "new outlook"? What happened to getting version numbers?

    So much basic functionality is failing. I think Linux may end up being my new desktop/OS and use Windows when I have to.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-12T23:13:24+00:00

    Update, after a total rebuild of my P/C from ground zero, the Copy and Paste function has failed. I'll be in contact with Level 3 tomorrow.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-12T19:27:48+00:00

    Thanks for your response. Your frustration is even more "worthy" for the time you've spent trying to get MS to fix the problem. Never have this problem with my W1p0 laptops. Last year I added an HP desktop that came with W11. Only after the new year did this cut/paste problem start. HP told me same thing you got from DELL- reload the W11 OS AFTER backing up evething. I'm hesitent to do that since I use a lot of different software packages. It's not the backup it's the reinstall that holds me up. That takes me days to get everthing working right. Now can't even restart when problem exists as many suggest because my right click does nothing, so only other way is to turn off the computer using the power button. Good luck with your reinstall working.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-03-18T12:14:41+00:00

    Yes, after a clean install due to this bug, and an update to 23h2, and getting my previous customization up to snuff, then I began to find that the clipboard intermittently fails to copy. For instance, right clip and copy on this page results in nothing to paste. I did follow solution 2 here https://thegeekpage.com/solved-fix-copy-paste-not-working-on-windows-10/  but it does not fix the problem. System has plenty of available RAM and 138GB of free disk space on the C drive.

    The only error in event viewer that I can that may be related to this is: "The backing-file for the real-time session "PCA file tracing session" has reached its maximum size. As a result, new events will not be logged to this session until space becomes available."

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