"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

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

200+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

202 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2019-01-10T19:30:23+00:00

    I get the same error multiple times when cut and pasting data from one cell to another in the Office 365 version of Excel on Windows 10.   The odd thing is I might get the error two or three times in a row, then it stops, then I get the error again.   It is not consistent, and I am not opening or closing other applications during my session when the error happens, then stops, then happens again.

    The "fix" of disabling Live Preview does not work for me.   Besides, I like Live Preview, and use it a lot. 

    I ran the "Repair" utility; still get the error.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2019-01-11T00:19:29+00:00

    I am in awe. Over 2 years, and this issue is still happening? Just started happening to me a short time ago. Today i was doing some extensive work and it finally got frustrating. I've done everything this forum has said to do and it is still happening. I've reinstalled twice today. I can open a brand new fresh spreadsheet and try to drag and drop a blank cell and it pops up. Guess it's time to find a different spreadsheet application.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2019-01-11T00:33:28+00:00

    I noticed too that my Enable Live Preview checkbox doesn't even work at all. I can uncheck it and not only does that not help the problem, i still get live previews when i hover over an icon or button.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2019-01-11T02:31:37+00:00

    For the love of Pete.. You all can stop "trying" nearly all the suggested solutions here.. **lol**

    If you have this issue it is MOST LIKELY because you have ANOTHER APPLICATION that is also writing to the clipboard. This dumb error is because Microsoft in it's infinite wisdom sees fit to warn you that this is happening before each and every (or every other) copy and paste in Excel.

    Why you may be wondering???

    This is because Microsoft in it's infinite wisdom thinks it knows better then us how to manage our software configurations on our own devices and decided to not give any of us an option to turn this stupid warning off.

    So your only other option is to disable the clipboard in whatever other application is writing to the clipboard and get your life back!!! (see image below) **lol**

    In my case the software culprit was Beyond Compare's awesome clipboard compare feature. Unfortunately, I finally had to disable the clipboard comparison feature in Beyond Compare in order to bring peace and freaking quiet to my life with Excel.

    That's my story.. But do keep trying all these other "fixes" that do not work and pulling out your hair.. **lol**

    Was this answer helpful?

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments