I paste a copied value and then want to insert cells, Excel will paste the insert into inserted cell

Copper Contributor

Ok, so I thought I was pretty good at Excel until I had this issue.  I copy a cell and then paste.  Then went to add a row.  Well, I was surprised when the pasted value ending up in the whole row.  I am using Office 365 and have searched for a solution, didn't find one.  Went to Support and conntected with help who wanted me to repair online my version as Safe mode wouldn't work.  Since it is not my office I had our company IT do this (repair was what they did).  However, this was not the fix.  It fixed the ability to open Excel in Safe mode, but not my clearing clipboard issue.  So am stuck.  I know on non-365 you could copy paste and then paste more if you chose to and then when you didn't want the clipboard you hit Delete and good to go, insert cells or rows with no dire consequences.  Please help!  Is there a way to clear the clipboard (outside of leaving the clipboard open and manually clearing it (which is ineffective and terrible for productivity)?

3 Replies

Hi, Linda!

 

You could do several things.

 

1. You can use Ctrl + C for copying and Ctrl + V for pasting.  When you want to finish the clipboard thing, you could use the Esc key, and Done!

 

2. You can use Ctrl + C for copying and Ctrl + V for pasting.  If you have the last pasting thing, you can paste with Enter instead of Ctrl + V, for clearing Clipboard.  Done!

 

Maybe this tips work for you.  Blessings!

Hi Linda

 

In addition to what John has said about hitting ESC to cease the pasting issue (you'll know something is is currently copied if you see a broken box around a cell or range of cells), you can also clear the Excel clipboard of any recent copied data that you have captured.

 

1. In the Home tab, click onto the expanding option, bottom right corner of the Clipboard section.

 

Click the little icon to open the Clipboard side pane. This will show you the recent things that you have previously copied.Click the little icon to open the Clipboard side pane. This will show you the recent things that you have previously copied.

As you can see, John Doe was the last cell I had copied and still has the rotating broken line box around the cell telling me it is active in memory to paste.As you can see, John Doe was the last cell I had copied and still has the rotating broken line box around the cell telling me it is active in memory to paste.

2. From the Clipboard side pane, you can:

a. Paste All - Everything in Clipboard memory will paste to a cell location that you select.

b. Clear All - Clears the Clipboard of all data.

c. Clear a single item - Hover your mouse over the item in the Clipboard side pane, and you can Delete it.

 

Click onto the item to immediate paste, or hover over the item, drop down the list and you can Delete the item if you wish.Click onto the item to immediate paste, or hover over the item, drop down the list and you can Delete the item if you wish.

Hopefully that also helps to understand the ways you can manage your Clipboard data. Also accessing previously copied cells can help with repetitive tasks.

 

Best wishes!

 

Cheers

Damien

@Damien Rosario Yeah. Ok. But when I do an insert I want insert not flippin paste! This design "feature" makes no sense at all to me and users should be able to turn it off.