Clipboard problem in Excel 2016

Anonymous

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.

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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Anonymous

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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255 additional answers

Anonymous

2018-01-25T17:00:04+00:00

I have the same problem. Can MS fix it please?
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Anonymous

2017-12-15T00:19:07+00:00

yep--have that one too

backrgound: my machine was Windows 7 Pro

Got the "upgrade" to Windows 10

Had different issue, so "upgraded" to Office Pro 365

Hard to track when each type of issue happens, but wondering if it happens more when opening files built with previous versions of Excel...

Latest idea: buy new computer with latest OS and latest Office, then revert current box back to "7" ... not a really good solution in terms of efficiency

Commentary: somehow Microsoft is not hearing this issue, so we all just watch these posts pop up, and ignore them for months, then chime in once in a while when we've had a particularly bad bout of frustration

I agree with your commentary. Microsoft has not been listening for over a year now. We pay good money for the Office 365 program, but Microsoft will not fix this problem.
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Anonymous

2017-12-14T19:50:35+00:00

yep--have that one too

backrgound: my machine was Windows 7 Pro

Got the "upgrade" to Windows 10

Had different issue, so "upgraded" to Office Pro 365

Hard to track when each type of issue happens, but wondering if it happens more when opening files built with previous versions of Excel...

Latest idea: buy new computer with latest OS and latest Office, then revert current box back to "7" ... not a really good solution in terms of efficiency

Commentary: somehow Microsoft is not hearing this issue, so we all just watch these posts pop up, and ignore them for months, then chime in once in a while when we've had a particularly bad bout of frustration
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Anonymous

2017-12-14T10:27:39+00:00

I get this clipboard problem too, BUT after seeing the error message Excel does not show me which cell I am in so becomes effectively useless. I try clicking on a cell and the cell highlight is invisible. Tabbing has the same effect. I can see however that I am moving the cell pointer because if I paste then the data appears in the cell. only cure at moment is save, close, reopen. getting very frustrated.
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