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
    2018-05-22T18:57:26+00:00

    I am running Excel 2016/Win10 and had a similar prob. What seems to have solved it is the windows clipboard program was switched to an app (not sure what the difference is) but i had to download the new clipboard "app" off the MS-Store website - it's free. I don't know if it would be applicable to Win7 but you may want to look into that. Also not sure why the clipboard wasn't automatically updated or switched out as it should have been. Since then, no issues.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-05-22T18:47:53+00:00

    Also, if this has something to do with other programs accessing the clipboard, could you provide some suggestions as to what these might be?

    Beyond Compare for sure impacts this issue -- you can turn off clipboard monitoring in Beyond Compare if you use it as this has stopped all my Excel problems.  I assume there are other programs too.

    Fred

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-05-22T18:16:42+00:00

    I'm adding myself to the growing list of people who: 

    1. Cannot understand what the purpose of this message is, and
    2. Find it happening all the time in Excel - not just once a session.  It is extremely disruptive, especially because I spend 7-10 hours a day working in Excel.  Every time the message appears I have to take my hands off the keyboard to close it.

    In addition: 3. I have been an Excel user for 25 years.  I started using Office 365 a little more than a year ago.  The first time I saw this message was a couple weeks ago.  Something seems to have changed in Excel that triggered it. 4. It is associated with another (and even more annoying) glitch where I can no longer click in any cells on the spreadsheet.  I can save and close the spreadsheet and the problem is gone when I reopen it, but this is not a solution- just a workaround that keeps Excel from being totally unusable.  Sometimes clicking in another open spreadsheet will fix it but that is not reliable.

    I rely as much as possible on keyboard shortcuts- which should not have anything to do with the problem but I am mentioning it just in case it has some esoteric connection with the problem.  Also, I am still running on Windows 7, but again why would this problem occur NOW using Office 365 for more than a year???!!!

    I almost never have any other Office programs running- not Word, PowerPoint, Access, or Outlook. I use the Chrome browser.

    Please pleasepleasefix this!!  

    If I had the unenviable task of looking into the problem, I would start by looking at the most recent Office 365 update as I think it is likely that this is when the problem started for me.  That doesn't explain why people have been reporting it since at least 2013, but it might provide some insight.

    Also, if this has something to do with other programs accessing the clipboard, could you provide some suggestions as to what these might be?

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-05-02T22:39:14+00:00

    I reset the factory settings on my laptop and now I can copy/paste in excel.

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