Forum Discussion
In form or report design view, cannot paste objects
Hello all. I have used MS Access for over 20 years as a user (not developer). I like to design forms and reports from scratch (not using wizards), and it is handy to copy and paste objects in design mode. This includes controls, labels, lines, buttons, etc. For example, in a tabular transaction-type report, I can copy already-formatted controls from the detail to the report or group footer and just edit each to be a sum.
For the last several months, I can click Copy on the bar (or ctrl +c), but the paste icon does not light up and ctrl + v does not work. Sometimes if I wait long enough (like several minutes later), the paste function becomes enabled. It takes me substantially longer now to add new objects from the Report Design bar and reformat them to match the existing report or form.
I don't know if this is an Access issue or a clipboard issue. I am able to copy and paste large volumes of data with no problem at all. I am thinking about re-installing my Office 365 (which includes Access). Has anyone else had this problem, and is there a solution?
The version I have is Access for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2503, Build 16.0.18623 20076 64-bit)
15 Replies
I am also have the same problem. Has any solution been found? Thanks!
I've been having the same problem and this fixed it:
Windows Settings > System > Clipboard > Press 'Clear' on 'Clear clipboard data'
My earlier reply saying I have found a solution was premature. I still have this problem and it is EXTREMELY annoying. Has anyone found a working solution, or even better, is Microsoft trying to come up with a fix?
I have a few different issues with the Access designer that is not working like it used to do, and causing major grief.
I may have found a solution to this. In my Clipboard settings there is no option visible to turn on or off Suggested Actions, so I found a registry entry that will turn off the suggested actions. As soon as I added this to my registry the copy/cut/paste started working in MS Access, and I could past a subform control into a selected tab control.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SmartActionPlatform\SmartClipboard] "Disabled"=dword:00000001
Hi,
In my Clipboard settings there is no option visible to turn on or off Suggested Actions, so I found a registry entry that will turn off the suggested actions.
Interesting that you (only) found it in the registry. AFAIK Suggested Actions as a Windows setting is only visible in North America. Where are you located?
Servus
Karl
****************
Access Forever News DevCon
Access-Entwickler-Konferenz AEKI am located in Texas, but still, I don't see that setting. However, in Language & region settings I have Country Region set to United States, but regional format to English (United Kingdom).
Using United Kingdom formatting provides a better environment to design forms and reports in MS Access since it uses millimeters and not inches. In addition, all my users are in the UK, so better see the same as they do.
I had to add the registry entry as it was not present by default. I added it and copy/cut started to work. However, that was yesterday. Today Copy/Cut has again stopped working on selected form objects in Access.
I've had this problem for months and found it to be random when it allows me to paste a control or not. I check that I'm on the latest release frequently, so this has not become a problem in any of the recent versions. It's been there for a long time.
What is see when I check Windows + V is that there is nothing in the clipboard after I do Ctrl + X or C, nor using the mouse right click, so clearly something is going wrong in the copy/cut operation.
Thanks. Glad to know I am not going crazy. What you describe is very much what I have. You click "Copy" or Ctrl + C and hope that the Paste icon is highlighted. Occasionally it is. ("Yay") but usually it is not. It takes substantially more time to create reports and forms for me.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-the-office-clipboard-028903c7-66ea-4eb0-b0a1-bacdb952e3a1Have you tried to see if the Office Clipboard is possibly interfering with the Windows Clipboard?
Do you have additional software like PowerToys or DevToys installed, by chance?
Have you attempted a separate/alternate login to Windows with/without O365 Business or Microsoft account?
I have a feeling it might have snuck in during an "improvement", but don't quote me on that.
Hi there! I’ve experienced a similar issue with MS Access, especially when working with custom forms—it can be super frustrating when paste suddenly stops responding. What worked for me was clearing out clipboard history (Windows + V → Clear All) and disabling clipboard syncing from Settings temporarily. Also, running Access in Safe Mode (access /safe) helped identify a conflicting plugin in my case.
If it’s tied to Office updates, sometimes just rolling back one update version helps too.
Hello, thank you for posting your solution and surrounding details. I was leaning towards a plug-in issue or group Policy settings for your user. That may sound strange for Standalone units, however, if you look in in tune configuration policies you can set things that way. I had a heck of a time trying to figure out all of that stuff with InTune and gpos after the security update from Microsoft approximately 2 years ago. I had almost identical issues. My solution eventually was to update the configuration policy for Office 365 and deploy it through my hybrid aad joined machine
In order to correctly identify the root cause, would you be able to let me know:
- Is this a standalone (unmanaged) system or part of Entra/Azure/Corp/Active Directory/MDM?
- Are you able to identify more or less the date this started?
- What local permissions do you hold with the user account? Admin/User?
- What channel is used for updates?
Fixes range from registry modifications, group/system policies, 3rd party software, or one of the hundreds of changes made to Office software.
Hi,
I haven't heard of this problem so far. If you use Windows 11 you could try if it helps to turn off Suggested Actions for the clipboard. See the last section on this support page.
Servus
Karl
****************
Access DevCon April 10+11, 2025
Access Forever NewsCopy/paste is a Windows function, so if there is a problem, I'd rather think it's in Windows Clipboard.
Do you have anti-virus or backup or other software running that may be consuming resources?
