Issue with Excel 2016 - copy and paste cells

Question

Issue with Excel 2016 - copy and paste cells

Elisabetta Storelli 20

Hi,

I have a issue on a PC where Microsoft Office 2016 is installed. From today, then I try to copy and a paste a cell, it doesn't work. If I try to copy text from Word to Excel, it works. So, the issue is linked only to copy a cell and paste it. I've already tried to run excel in safe mode, restart the PC, re-install Excel but nothing works.

Some advices?

Kind regards,
Betta

WEI CAO 0 Reputation points

2026-09-10T05:59:25.4333333+00:00

I have the same issue. Repair was not working . I just uninstall office 2016 and reinstall it. It is working now. Hope this way can help you.
Praddyumn Singh 15 Reputation points

2026-09-10T06:19:02.0366667+00:00

I have the same issue. Repair was not working . recently reported case specifically mentioned the issue beginning after KB5002914 installation, I am unable to uninstall this Excel update, Do anyone knows how to unintsall updates from Office, Even commands are not working to unistall the updates
Michelle Nguyen 1,340 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-10T10:34:31.2766667+00:00

Hi @Praddyumn Singh

Please refer the following article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/updates-lifecycle/how-to-uninstall-a-windows-update
N R 0 Reputation points

2026-09-10T12:37:23.4633333+00:00

Any suggestions for someone on a work computer who has no control over adding or removing updates?
Abrar Razi 0 Reputation points

2026-09-11T07:02:25.9766667+00:00

Pepaire is not working, even i reinstalled after one day same issue. So please run this command to removed
that causing update :

Open cmd run as administrator and run the below command
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\Oarpmany.exe" /removereleaseinpatch "{90160000-0012-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}" "{27882596-A8ED-4382-9C71-6CD2DD19F732}" "1033" "0"

9 answers

Your answer

WEI CAO 0 Reputation points

2026-09-10T05:59:25.4333333+00:00

I have the same issue. Repair was not working . I just uninstall office 2016 and reinstall it. It is working now. Hope this way can help you.
Praddyumn Singh 15 Reputation points

2026-09-10T06:19:02.0366667+00:00

I have the same issue. Repair was not working . recently reported case specifically mentioned the issue beginning after KB5002914 installation, I am unable to uninstall this Excel update, Do anyone knows how to unintsall updates from Office, Even commands are not working to unistall the updates
Michelle Nguyen 1,340 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-10T10:34:31.2766667+00:00

Hi @Praddyumn Singh

Please refer the following article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/updates-lifecycle/how-to-uninstall-a-windows-update
N R 0 Reputation points

2026-09-10T12:37:23.4633333+00:00

Any suggestions for someone on a work computer who has no control over adding or removing updates?
Abrar Razi 0 Reputation points

2026-09-11T07:02:25.9766667+00:00

Pepaire is not working, even i reinstalled after one day same issue. So please run this command to removed
that causing update :

Open cmd run as administrator and run the below command
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\Oarpmany.exe" /removereleaseinpatch "{90160000-0012-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}" "{27882596-A8ED-4382-9C71-6CD2DD19F732}" "1033" "0"

Answer 1

Roland 5

Of course, this is about the KB5002914 update. While it can easily be uninstalled on Windows 10, it's not possible on Windows 11. The workaround is to copy the excel.exe file from a Windows 10 machine that has either uninstalled this update or from any Windows 10 or 11 computer that hasn't downloaded it yet. Then, you need to replace the original .exe file on the affected computer. Just to be safe, pause updates for two weeks. This method works.

Roland 5 Reputation points

2026-09-10T08:03:02.85+00:00

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\excel.exe
Brian Wheeler 5 Reputation points

2026-09-10T18:54:13.72+00:00

It's funny that they don't provide updates anymore but this "update" broke a product that can't be updated. Our It group is telling us we need to upgrade our 2016 copies of Office which we own to a subscription based product.
Kushan Anuruddha 0 Reputation points

2026-09-11T07:42:28.8133333+00:00

Thanks bro this solution is worked i get the backup exe from previous update and past with updated exe its worked. Thanks!!!

Answer 2

It's likely KB5002914 Excel security update. It broke copy/paste in Excel, and also select+drag to fill/extend [which I use all the time at work, so having it "break" for no good reason was a real bummer today, and had to spend several hours diagnosing and trying to figure out WTF happened].

Suspected an update broke shit, and lo and behold, after rolling back to a restore point and show/hide-ing KB5002914 [using the old deprecated show/hide tool to hide it], and installing the rest of the updates that were queue'd [without re-installing the busted one], the problem is resolved.

They need to fix KB5002914, the Excel "security" patch.

And, of course, in M$'s infinite wisdom you can no longer just "uninstall" the patch from the "uninstall updates" screen, like you used to be able to, due to their seeming insistence that "every [update] is sacred." So, it seems like a rollback / hide / rerun all the other updates was the only obvious fix I could find in short order to get back up and running and finish my work. Maybe someone has some more technical way to nix it without having to do the rollback / hide / re-update rigamarole? Dunno.

Hopefully they make patching it a priority, since they broke it.

Praddyumn Singh 15 Reputation points

2026-09-10T06:21:16.63+00:00

Can you pls help me to unistalling that update

Answer 3

Abrar Razi 0

Pepaire is not working, even i reinstalled after one day same issue. So please run this command to removed that causing update :

Open cmd run as administrator and run the below command
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\Oarpmany.exe" /removereleaseinpatch "{90160000-0012-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}" "{27882596-A8ED-4382-9C71-6CD2DD19F732}" "1033" "0"

Elisabetta Storelli 20 Reputation points

2026-09-11T08:00:55.56+00:00

Hi @Abrar Razi , the solution you suggested is working, thank you so much!
Is there a way to block definitively the download all the security update for Microsoft Excel 2016 only?
Filipe Lourenco 0 Reputation points

2026-09-11T09:54:34.2533333+00:00

Hi, @Abrar Razi , I can't run this command; I get the following error: ‘“C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\Oarpmany.exe”’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,

an operable program, or a batch file.

Can you help me?

Answer 4

Elisabetta Storelli 20

After new tests, I've seen that ONLY the copy/paste action made by CTRL+C / CTRL+V is not working... Some advices?

Abrar Razi 0 Reputation points

2026-09-11T07:03:46.96+00:00

Pepaire is not working, even i reinstalled after one day same issue. So please run this command to removed that causing update :

Open cmd run as administrator and run the below command
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\Oarpmany.exe" /removereleaseinpatch "{90160000-0012-0000-1000-0000000FF1CE}" "{27882596-A8ED-4382-9C71-6CD2DD19F732}" "1033" "0"

Answer 5

Try these checks in order:

Make sure both workbooks are open in the same Excel instance. If one workbook is opened in a second Excel window/instance, Excel can fall back to the Windows Paste Special behavior and Excel cell paste options will not work correctly between workbooks.
Verify that Paste Options is enabled:
- Go to File > Options > Advanced.
- Under Cut, copy and paste, confirm Show Paste Options button when content is pasted is checked.
Since Safe Mode did not help, check whether Excel events are being cleared by workbook code:
- A Worksheet_SelectionChange event can clear the clipboard and disable Paste Special.
- If this workbook contains VBA/event code, set Application.EnableEvents to False and test again.
Close all web browsers completely and test copy/paste again. Browser conflicts are documented as a cause of Paste Special problems.
If the problem occurs only when pasting between two Excel windows, open both files in the same Excel instance and retry.
If this PC is on Excel 2016 version 16.0.4229.1002 preview, there is a known bug where sheet copy/move behaves incorrectly. The documented fix is:
- Uninstall the preview Office build from Control Panel > Program and Features.
- Install a released RTM version of Office.
- Turn on automatic updates.
If the issue started after a recent Office update and reinstall did not help, an Online Repair of Office is the next documented repair path.

Because copy from Word to Excel works, the problem is likely specific to Excel’s internal copy/paste handling rather than the Windows clipboard itself.

References: