Copy and Paste - Additional Spacing

Question

Copy and Paste - Additional Spacing

Linda Wallace 0

Is there a system-wide error impacting the copy and paste function on all Microsoft products? I was unable to copy and paste anything in any Microsoft application for most of the day. Over the past several weeks, in Outlook emails my spacing looks correct when I send an email, however, when I review the sent email there is additional spacing. I use Paste as Plain Text and format the spacing manually. Restarting seems to fix the issue temporarily. Is this a known issue and is there a recommended solution?

Viorel 127.3K Reputation points

2026-04-03T02:55:55.07+00:00

There are several types of spaces (wider, narrower, etc.) and the source may even contain them. Some of the special characters may be transformed into spaces during Paste as Plain Text. From where is the text copied?

1 answer

Your answer

Viorel 127.3K Reputation points

2026-04-03T02:55:55.07+00:00

There are several types of spaces (wider, narrower, etc.) and the source may even contain them. Some of the special characters may be transformed into spaces during Paste as Plain Text. From where is the text copied?

Answer 1

The provided information does not describe a single, system‑wide copy/paste outage across all Microsoft products. The context only documents specific, product‑level copy/paste issues and fixes, not a broad Microsoft 365–wide failure.

From the available information, the following copy/paste–related issues and resolutions are documented:

Office for the web – “No clipboard access” errors
If copy/paste fails in Office for the web (Word, Excel, PowerPoint online) and a “No clipboard access” message appears, the cause is typically browser clipboard permissions being blocked. The documented fix is to explicitly allow clipboard access for Office sites:

In Microsoft Edge:
1. Select the Lock icon / View site information button in the address bar.
2. Under Permission for this site, locate Clipboard.
3. Set it to Allow.
In Google Chrome:
1. Select the View site information button in the address bar.
2. Locate Clipboard.
3. Toggle it On to enable clipboard access for the site.

Excel/Office desktop – Paste Special not working
A known issue is that Paste Special can be disabled or missing in Excel/Office if:

The Show Paste Options button when content is pasted option is turned off, or
The Worksheet_SelectionChange event is used and clears the clipboard, or
A conflicting browser instance or third‑party add‑in interferes.

Documented resolutions include:

In Excel (and similarly in other Office apps where applicable):
1. Go to File > Options > Advanced.
2. Under Cut, copy and paste, ensure Show Paste Options button when content is pasted is checked.
If VBA events are used, set Application.EnableEvents = False to prevent Worksheet_SelectionChange from clearing the clipboard.
Close all web browser instances and test Paste Special again, as some browsers can conflict with Excel’s Paste Special.
Start Excel in Safe Mode to test for add‑in conflicts:
1. Find the Excel icon.
2. Hold CTRL and double‑click the shortcut.
3. Choose Yes to start in Safe Mode.
4. If Paste Special works in Safe Mode, re‑enable add‑ins one by one until the conflicting add‑in is found, then leave it disabled or uninstall it.

Classic Outlook – copy shortcut or Paste Special issues
There are specific, documented Outlook desktop issues:

Classic Outlook hangs when using the Copy shortcut in certain builds (Version 2409 and later). The documented mitigation is to revert Outlook to a prior build (e.g., Version 2408) using Click‑to‑Run commands and the update history guidance.
Paste Special shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+V) stopped working in classic Outlook in some builds. The documented workaround involves moving to a specific update channel (e.g., Beta Channel) via a registry key and then updating Office.

These are targeted Outlook issues, not a universal copy/paste failure across all Microsoft products.

Spacing changes in Outlook messages
The provided context does not document a specific, known bug that exactly matches: “spacing looks correct when composing/sending, but Sent Items show additional spacing when using Paste as Plain Text.” The context does mention other Outlook formatting and conversion behaviors (for example, HTML to RTF conversion issues in Exchange scenarios and table border changes in Word after an update), but nothing that directly confirms a known, global Outlook spacing bug tied to plain‑text paste.

Based on the available documentation:

There is no confirmed, system‑wide copy/paste outage across all Microsoft products.
There are known, product‑specific issues (Outlook copy shortcut hangs, Paste Special shortcut issues, Excel Paste Special conflicts, Office for the web clipboard permission problems).
For Outlook spacing anomalies specifically, the context does not provide a documented, named bug or a standard fix beyond the general update/revert and channel‑change guidance for copy/paste shortcuts.

Given the documented issues, recommended actions are:

Ensure Office apps and Outlook are fully updated to the latest supported build, since several copy/paste and formatting issues are addressed in specific updates.
If using Office for the web, verify browser clipboard permissions as described above.
If Paste Special or shortcuts fail in Outlook or Excel, test in Office Safe Mode and check for add‑in or browser conflicts as described, and consider the documented build/channel workarounds for classic Outlook.
If the Outlook spacing issue persists, use in‑product feedback so it reaches the product team (for example, Help > Feedback > Report a problem in Office apps), as is recommended for other newly observed formatting bugs.

References: