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
    2017-11-29T22:23:09+00:00

    I was able to resolve in several steps:

    -Disable live preview in Options

    -Remove Lync/Skype add-ons from IE

    -Update Excel

    -Close other clipboard programs like clipx

    -Close Outlook

    Not sure which one was the culprit. You can also just hit the Esc key and ctrl+c it again.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-27T21:28:15+00:00

    I had this same problem.  I updated and repaired office to no avail.

    Then I found the culprit.  I use Beyond Compare to compare code updates and the current version has a new option called ClipBoard compare whereby "Clipboard Compare runs in the background, keeping track of every time the Windows clipboard is updated with text.  It appears in the Windows notification area."  it allows you to compare the contents of the last two clips.

    As soon I exited, and disabled, this option, Excel was back to normal. 

    It makes sense too because when I hilite a group of cells in Excel and perform and drag and move, the contents were being copied into the code compare tool, slowing things down, and or locking up the clipboard.

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-27T14:01:23+00:00

    Nice that you inform me of your IMPROVEMENTS!   You make and IMPROVEMENT.  I get a problem!

    HOW DO I FIX THE PROBLEM!!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-10-16T07:56:45+00:00

    It's actually very important to know from a security standpoint.

    Assuming that you were right, Jeffrey, why does this not apply to Word, PowerPoint etc.?

    The real fact is that Microsoft really messed up the clipboard behaviour of Excel, beginning with 2013.

    On the other hand I would be content with the possibility to exempt particular programs from causing the message. But which program is it? Most people with this problem don't even know which program causes Excel to prompt this message. So again: what is this message for?

    For more detailled information see my post from March 3rd on page 10 of this thread.

    And from 2016 they started with this stupidity:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_excel-mso_win10-mso_2016/excel-2016-blocks-the-clipboard-in-some-special/d6d5dd80-bf97-437c-8cba-7dbe7f06bad1

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