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I am using the Microsoft Office 365 Business desktop app, and as of this posting am running Windows 10 version 1903 (OS Build 18362.720) on this particular laptop. This problem has been witnessed across multiple computers, Windows 10 versions, Microsoft accounts, all while using the Office 365 app.
I track a lot of data in Excel and often copy cells from it and paste them into online forms, ETC. Within the last few weeks I have started getting a pop up when I try to copy a cell that says "There's a problem with the clipboard, but you can still paste this content within this workbook."
It does not seem to matter if the file is stored locally or not.
I have found that if I continue to press Ctrl+v 2 to 4 more times it usually at some point copies the data as it should, without the pop up, and allows me to paste it wherever I want.
I searched for an answer to what is going on and or if there is a solution, and found that people have been periodically having this problem for years, and but could not find a solution that worked despite a post on this site having over 20 pages of replies and over 1500 reports of having the same problem, before comments were locked due to the thread age.
I have tried repairing the app without success. I have tried updating Office, which did do an update but did not solve the problem. I've restarted the computer and Excel many times.
This is making use of Excel inefficient and annoying. I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before I and others I've spoken with that are experiencing the same thing, are not able to paste outside of the workbook at all. As is, I may as well just type everything again instead of bothering with the broken copy/paste feature.
A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
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.
I can copy/paste, but if I select a cell and drag it to another location I get the same error message.
No Linkedin ever enabled, disabled live preview, I will try disabling any COM add-ins
I think I've spotted where the problem can originate within Excel. I refer specifically to MrRogers83's original problem, not other points people have raised. I can generate it within Excel and resolve it (for the moment) in Excel. I'm using Excel 2019 on Windows 10.
If a cell is copied (shown with green dashes around it) when I close Excel, then my first Copy command next time Excel is started produces the error message. (I find that a second Copy instruction resolves it.) Any Copy can be cancelled by pressing Escape before leaving Excel. If Clipboard history is turned on, the situation seems to get more complicated.
I can see exactly when the clipboard is occupied by starting Clipboard Settings from the Start menu and watching the "Clear" button at the bottom. The word "Clear" turns grey whenever the clipboard is empty (since there's nothing to clear). So I can watch as Excel uses it and frees it. I advise turning Clipboard history off as it seems to make the matter more complicated.
I'd think that Microsoft could resolve this by ensuring that the clipboard is always freed (equivalent to pressing Escape) whenever Excel is shut down. A check on how Clipboard history interacts with this seems advisable too.
I think I've spotted where the problem can originate within Excel. I refer specifically to MrRogers83's original problem, not other points people have raised. I can generate it within Excel and resolve it (for the moment) in Excel. I'm using Excel 2019 on Windows 10.
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I'd think that Microsoft could resolve this by ensuring that the clipboard is always freed (equivalent to pressing Escape) whenever Excel is shut down. A check on how Clipboard history interacts with this seems advisable too.
Awesome research! thank you. Hitting escape also clears the error when dragging a cell to another location. Hopefully this is fixed on an update, who wants to hit escape all the time?
When is this problem going to be fixed? Been happening for years now and only seems to be getting worse. None of the suggestions given have worked for me. I dont have any external 'add ins' ??
Only way I can operate excel is in safe mode which still gives the error message but does allow me to continue working in the spreadsheet. Otherwise the only way is to close excel and reopen the file. Once I try to copy data the error message pops up then I am unable to highlight any more cells in that sheet until I restart excel.
This is crazy
I read through all the messages since April 2018. I'm having this problem using Office 365 (just renewed my subscription in January). I tried James Severn's solution, but it didn't work. Now after experiencing this copy/paste issue, the spreadsheet does not show where my cursor is located. However, if I double click, then I can see the cursor but the cell is not highlighted. Hitting escape does make the dreaded message disappear, but the problem still exists next time I copy and paste in the same spreadsheet. I am annoyed that Microsoft hasn't fixed this problem.