Word crashes when I perform a simple copy and paste or select and drag?

Anonymous
2011-07-13T08:59:16+00:00

Why does Word crash when I perform a simple copy and paste or select and drag?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-10-26T11:39:34+00:00

Here is the solution to your Copy - Paste nightmares.... The word software needs to be reset.  Don't panic you won't lose your documents.

Step (1) Close all your open programs

Step (2) Open Finder

Step (3) Press and Hold Option button, then click GO on the top tool bar. Keep holding the Option button down and click on Library

Step (4) In the Library, click on Preferences

Step (5) Look for the file com.microsoft.word.plist

Step (6) Move the file to your desktop

Step (7) Close the Library file

Step (8) Open Word again, this will take you through a Welcome screen. Which means your word software is reset.

This fix has worked for me for over a week now and the Save button is thanking me!  Keep the .plist file on your desktop, if something hits the fan you can always reset your settings.

Good luck fellow pasters!

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Anonymous
2015-02-10T23:59:21+00:00

I just found this on the net & it works for me on text pasted from a web page. In word use edit, paste special and select unformatted

good luck!

Try Paste Special.

  1. Press ALT/CTRL/V.
  2. Select Unformatted Text in the As list box.
  3. Click OK.

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Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
2012-07-01T23:02:45+00:00

It turns out the Java malware problem was widespread. As you can see from the thread there are several possible causes of the problem. If you want assistance solving your particular problem, post a new question with as much detail as you can supply about your system, update level of Word and Mac OS X, what sort of thing you're trying to copy that causes the crash, a bit of the crash log, etc.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-12-20T16:43:56+00:00

    Hi all,

    For me the problem is solved!

    I solved it by turning off the option:

    --> 'keep track of recent opened files' (I literally translated this option from Dutch)

    The idea behind this option is to save previous used files. But the problem in my opinion is (although I'm not a wizkid) that this option requires a lot of memory space. ESPECIALLY when you work with files that are located on a server. (Although my local files worked really slow as well).

    You can find this option by:

    1. go to Word preferences
    2. general
    3. Turn off the option 'keep track of recent opened files'

    As it worked for me, I'm really happy that office runs smoothly again! Hopefully it will help some of you too!

    Cheers, Paul

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  2. Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
    2011-12-17T02:56:18+00:00

    This is a peer-to-peer forum, meaning it is almost all Word users helping each other. Microsoft folks occasionally jump in, but by and large it's just fellow users here.

    If you want to report issues directly to Microsoft use the Help > Send Feedback option on the Word Help menu (not interactive  - you just say what you need to tell them).

    You can contact Microsoft Support if you want to interact with a Microsoft employee.

    I don't have a cure, but I did notice the same problem is being reported in Word for Windows, as well.

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