Clipboard problem in Excel 2016

Anonymous
2016-04-16T23:39:19+00:00

I am running Excel 2016 on a Windows 10 Machine.

When I copy a cell (or cut a cell, or move a cell) I get one of two error messages:

"Cannot open the Clipboard"

"We couldn't free up space on the Clipboard.  Another program might be using it right now." 

I am then able to successfully paste what Excel told me it could not copy.  To restate for clarity...Excel throws error messages, but I am able to successfully copy and paste.

The problem is that it throws the error messages every single time I try and copy or cut or whatever.

Things I have tried:

I've ensured all other programs are not running (or using the clip board)

I've cleared the %temp% folder

I've cleared the Clipboard within Excel

Word does not have this problem...

Please help.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2017-02-28T16:18:02+00:00

Hello,

I have an update on this error dialog: “There's a problem with the clipboard, but you can still paste your content within this workbook."

When Excel shows this dialog after a copy (CTRL+C) action, it means that another app has a lock on the system clipboard.  In this situation you can still paste within Excel.  However you cannot paste to another app like Word or Outlook which uses the clipboard.

Last year we made some improvements to Office365 users so that this error message only shows once per Excel instance.  This is based on customer feedback - the design change prevents it popping up multiple successive times when the clipboard is locked.  We have also considered never showing the error dialog, but there was user feedback that this message is informative and helpful in some cases. 

We hope this helps shed some light on this error message.  For any design suggestions or new ideas on improving the Excel copy-paste experience, please post to Excel UserVoice.

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-08-21T09:02:30+00:00

    In addition to the above regular error I'm getting the error "there is an error with your clipboard" and then Excel crashes.

    This is only Excel, word does not have this problem.

    Another forum suggests it has to do with audio software interference.

    Another message suggested recently Skype has been integrated into Excel but with no visibility as to how or where or how to remove it.

    Please fix this critical bug affecting the most basic functionality of Excel

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-08-14T15:09:44+00:00

    Did you check for your telephone program?

    See my post on page 10 of this thread.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-14T14:49:26+00:00

    If I high-lite a "line" to move (cut) and put in a different place (paste) the error shows up. Click ok in the box and the line is inserted.

    This is so annoying.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-14T14:19:58+00:00

    Also, I have a weird thing where Excel sometimes stops highlighting the selected cell (or range) when I click on it.  It IS selecting the cell/range - I see and can change the contents of the cell(s).  It stops when I close and reopen the workbook.

    The reason I'm mentioning it here, is that it seems to be related to the Clipboard issue - the highlight problem doesn't happen EVERY time I get the clipboard problem, but it ONLY happens when I am also getting the Clipboard problem.

    Anyway, anybody else have this cell highlighting issue?

    Thanks,

    m

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