"there's a problem with the clipboard, but you can still paste this content within this workbook"

Anonymous
2016-11-17T14:55:36+00:00

Perhaps someone could direct to a discussion where this has been tackled, but I keep getting this error "there's a problem with the clipboard, but you can still past this content within this workbook " with simple cut/copy and paste actions in Excel.  The error box pops up and an alert sounds (which is super annoying) after every paste.  I can still perform the actions however my selection is not highlighted and I can't be sure that I have selected the correct information until I do a paste in the same, or another, worksheet. I have Excel 2016 in Office 365 on a machine running Windows 10.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2017-02-28T16:18:43+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
    2019-01-08T13:25:00+00:00

    It is an absolutely intrusive and productivity-killing thing to have this message keep popping up as I work. It should be pulled down.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-01-09T16:27:36+00:00

    I came to this thread because I recently starting having the "clipboard" error in excel.  I've tried the office repair.  I've tried clearing the clipboard.  I've tried OffCat.  I've tried closing all other Office programs first.  Nothing has helped.  Oh, and also, I get the message EVERY time I drag/drop a cell in Excel, not ONCE per session as you claim.

    I've had my Windows10 machine with Office installed for 2 years without any problems, and suddenly this is happening.  Super annoying.  Is MS doing anything to fix this issue?

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-01-09T16:30:22+00:00

    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.  

    This is absolutely UNTRUE!  I see this message pop up EVERY time I drag/drop a cell.  You should pull this post down as it is misleading to users.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-01-09T16:36:36+00:00

    I was able to work around this issue by disabling the Live Preview.

    Disabling live preview may work for Windows 7, but does not work for Windows 10.

    I would venture that everyone on this site who says that one method or another has "fixed" the issue is just a statistical exception for a bug that MS has NO IDEA of the cause or repair.  Just as mysteriously at it appears, for some I suppose that it will disappear after trying some supposed "fix".  The volume of comments on this thread from people who have diligently followed the advise of MS to fix the issue, but have failed, tells me that MS doesn't understand their software well enough to find and fix the problem.  Come on, MS, help us by fixing this bug.

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