Forum Discussion
Copy/paste no longer working in Excel
Sometime in the last few months the copy/paste function within Excel (Office 365 version) stopped working for me. I have updated Windows and all Office apps to the latest version but that hasn't fixed the problem. I've also run the Office 365
The symptom is very strange. When I hit Ctrl-C (or use the drop-down menus) on a cell in Excel the dashed lines that surround a cell selected for copying show up very briefly but immediately disappear. If I go to another cell and paste it just puts a open parenthesis "(" in the cell. Using Ctrl-X to cut exhibits similar behavior.
If I repeatedly hit Ctrl-C it will occasionally work (the dashed lines remain and I can paste) but it typically takes 15-20 tries before it will work and if I try again it will fail. This only seems to affect me when I try to copy cells. If I select a cell and then edit the cell and manually select the content of the cell I can copy and paste with no issue. It also appears to only be an issue when a cell is not empty. If I select an empty cell I can copy/paste just fine. If I select a cell that has been highlighted but has no content that also works properly. It's only when there's text or a formula in the cell that this is an issue.
This only affects Excel, I haven't observed the issue in any other app.
Any ideas?
- I’d recommend that everyone having thus issue goes to File > Feedback and send a frown, putting your details in the section and start it [Can’t Copy Paste]
Also what version is everyone in who’s having this problem ? File > Account
It will read something like
Semi Annual Channel
Build 1234.567
I was having the same issue as the original post, although after reading the thread I realized I had also lost the ability to drag down from two cells containing 1 and 2 respectively and have Excel complete a series: instead, all the cells in the range now had 1...
Copy&paste didn't work in just one specific workbook, let's call it the "failing workbook". I had a few more open at the same time: copy/paste worked fine in all the others. I could even copy in the failing workbook and paste correctly in another one. It was only in the failing workbook that if I selected a cell (or a range of cells), copied them, and as soon as I clicked on a new cell the dashed lines would disapear and there was nothing left to paste.
Same as the original post, I was able to copy and paste the text content from one cell to another.
I am an occasional Excel user: the only thing that was different between the failing workbook and the rest of them is that it contained macros. I don't fully understand the code, I copied it from a googled example and adapted it to my particular needs. The macros I copied count the number of coloured cells in a range.
While writing this reply I tried duplicating the file and removing the macro module on the copy.
Copy&paste worked immediately after.
After this I looked into the macros and saw that I had pasted the following code in the ThisWorkbook option:
Option Explicit ' ' http://www.myonlinetraininghub.com/count-sum-and-average-colored-cells ' Private Sub Workbook_SheetSelectionChange(ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Target As Range) 'Uncomment the next line if you want to make Excel recalculate the ActiveSheet every time the Selection changes ActiveSheet.Calculate End SubSo I did comment back the ActiveSheet.Calculate line, and copy&paste worked once again !!
Maybe for folks who are having the issue in any workbook, the problem could be triggered by having a start macro with some command such as the line I showed...
The dragging issue must be another problem because it seemed to happen in all my workbooks, not only in the failing one. However after closing Excel and reopening just the failing workbook, dragging 1,2 to get a series was once again working, both in the failing workbook and in another fresh one I opened.
I could not get it to fail again...
I hope this helps somebody at Microsoft look into both issues...
- I have the same issue, have not managed to find the root cause as yet but do have a simple workaround that gets it working again!
Open notepad or an email or probably anything else with some text in it , press Ctrl A, Ctrl C, then Ctrl V. then go back to Excel and Copy and Paste will be working again !Amazing. This worked for me. I had the copy and paste problem starting just recently. I open a blank excel file, type something in a cell, copy and then try to paste the cell elsewhere on the same sheet. After a few seconds excel is gone, closed down. I tried many of the solutions offered but nothing works. I even uninstalled office and reinstalled it. Same problem. I was skeptical whether this would work but after opening a blank TextPad file, typing something in it, then selecting it and pasting it twice back in the same file, the excel file was able to copy and paste. Does this show the problem has something to do with the clipboard?
Now when I try to duplicate it, it doesn't work any more. So strange.
The Ctrl A, Ctrl C, then Ctrl V worked for me!!! Thx so much.
I am sorry, but this guidance is so unhelpful it is kind of unbelievable. Of course Ctrl+A, C, V worked for you -- because you are not experiencing the issue!!
Suggest the moderator delete these duplicate responses.
- The Ctrl A, Ctrl C, then Ctrl V worked for me!!! Thx so much.
This problem is just because you have 2 instances of EXCEL.EXE and you want to copy paste from one instance to another. You can't copy paste values for example. You can see that from your Start Task Manager. In excel 2010 any workbook opened from explorer was opened from the last application opened. In 365 they try but from my experience sometimes fails to open all of them in only one application.
A solution is to open that excel file using File->Open commands inside your application and not double-clicking an excel file from explorer. I hope this helps.
As a novice user I think I have the same problem. I am trying to copy a range of cells in a column to the adjacent column ( ie next month). I used to be able to do this with one mouse operation - select the cell range then move over to the next column and it would copy that range. Now that doesn't work. It changes the content of each selected cell to the first (top) cell. This is definitely something that has changed or a parameter that I've changed but I don't know what.
- Hi Ian, are you doing Right Click Copy then moving and doing Right Click paste or something different?
- Not necessarily. I found this problem trying to copy/paste on the same worksheet.
jrizor That does not help me. When I open Excel I get an error that says Cannot use object linking and embedding. Not cut and paste will work in Excel for me period works fine in all other apps. I had to create a couple new directories in order to use Excel programmatically. Maybe Microsoft does not want you to do both use excel with out the app and have the ability to cut and paste.
I my case Excel opens my workbook with multiple sheets selected by default.
When i selected a range of cells, Excel copies the same range on multiple sheets.
Excel will not let you paste these cells into a single sheet.
Deselecting the other sheets solved it for me.
Clear temp files in user profile that is logged on \\User name\appdata\local\Temp. Clear all items there. A shorter method to drill down to the folder is go to "Run" then enter %temp%, hit enter.
Also clear the Windows Temp Files \\OSDisk (C) \ Windows\ Temp.
I've had the same problem with Excel, and now a similar problem with Word, pasting content from one table to another. The company uses 365 on PCs.
I take problematic documents home with me to test with an older version of Office, on a different OS (Mac). 9 times out of 10, it works, and converts back without issues. That's what I'll do in this case. I'll update accordingly if it works.
Otherwise, if you can get this to function with your current configuration, I recommend saving a copy of your work on a USB stick, and storing it in a Grand Cayman bank vault.
- Try starting Excel in safe mode (press the control key immediately after starting Excel, it should pop up a confirmation dialog to ask whether you want to start in safe mode).
If that makes your problem go away, the cause is very likely either an add-in or your personal macro workbook. See: http://jkp-ads.com/articles/startupproblems.asp with some pointers as to how to trouble-shoot add-ins.Thanks for the suggestion, I didn't even know safe mode was an option for Excel. Unfortunately it looks like that isn't the issue. I tried starting in safe mode and the same problem exists. Any other ideas?
Hi Jon,
If you open clipboard (as on picture) do you see what you copied?
- I had a similar issue, I copied a selection of rows to the clipboard, then tried to paste in a single cell below where I copied from and got the error "You can't paste here because the copy area and paste area aren't the same size. Select just one cell in the paste area or an area that's the same size, and try pasting again."
It turned out that I wasn't scrolled all the way over, so column A wasn't showing and I was trying to paste the selection starting with column B at the row of the currently highlighted cell. I just needed to scroll over horizontally select the cell in column A, and press Enter or Ctrl-V to paste.I am in the same boat.
I can copy/paste from Excel, to Excel.
I am unable to copy/past from OneNote to Excel.
This function was working fine a couple of weeks ago, and now it is not. I am also noticing a latency in Excel across all files.
I am also in the same boat.
Excel in Windows 10 slows down very frequently, even when only 1 workbook with no complex formulas is open.
The copy/paste function for cells is intermittent at best, you cannot copy a formula across multiple cells like you could in the past, and another unrelated issue: you can't delete a column or row that is under a merged cell at the beginning of the column or row like you could in the past.
Hi Jon,
I have the exact same problem on both my surface pro 4 and on my freshly formatted desktop pc.
In Excel 2016, I cannot copy any cells. The dashed lines will show briefly and then disappears.. A copied cell usually have the dashed lines circling it all the time.
When I try to paste, a left bracket shows up. " ( "Can anyone help us solve this mysterious problem..?
- Do the suggestions by jbosari on this page help? http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/244522-49-excel-copy-paste-issue-help
Hi Jan, none of the methods work.
Below is a sample of my freshly formatted PC and freshly installed Microsoft Office 2016.
What I did was:
1) Select the A cell and press Ctrl+C2) Select the B cell and press Ctrl+C
3) Select the C cell and press Ctrl+C
As you can see, there is this bracket ( somehow automatically copied on top of the A/B/C selections. This is really weird..
- I don’t know why but you can resolve the issue by copy pasting (or drag to paste if it is multiple cells) then after you paste press save again and it will calculate base on the formula. The save option after pasting is what will resolve your problem. I hope this helps.
I had the same problem. The only way I could copy cells was text only via the clipboard.
The solution for me was to disable (comment out) all macros and VB content I generated for that particular page. (I use a nifty little bit of code to insert the contents of a cell into the footer of the page.)
I did my copying and once the page was working I removed the comment ticks and everything worked.
Hope this helps..
I have had this same issue in all Microsoft Office products, and I just had the same issue happen in OpenOffice Draw! It seems to happen with a document that I have been editing over and over again. Opening a new document does not seem to help the issue.
Hi all,
I had this same issue and was disappointed to get to the bottom of the page with no answer.
However, upon saving & closing the most recent workbook I was working on, the copy paste functionality was restored in the new sheet I was working on that lost the ability to copy/paste.
This is really frustrating, but I think all we need to do is be a bit more organized and not leave workbooks open that we're not working on. That's my new protocol anyway. Hope this helps.
I have found the problem with copying from Excel cloud and to a local MAC screen i.e. a multi cell with a value to say notes.
The solution which is not one, but highlights the issue, is that you can double click on a value in Excel and copy from the bar, as below and it works 😩 but if I try and access and copy directly from the CELL it does not work at all, which is the existing problem. Not really a workaround, but does highlight what is going on !!
Add me to the list. Some copy/paste function work,some do not. This started recently. Specifically I was trying to copy formulas from a range of cells to paste into another range. Some cells had formulas, others only had values. When attempting to 'paste formulas', Excel would only perform a basic 'paste' of all the data in the copy-from range, thus overwriting the values in the target range. I tested with different files on three separate machines. One desktop and one tablet both running Office 365 desktop versions of Excel 2016, and one other desktop running Excel 2010. Same problem in all. Their are two common denominators: All three systems are running windows 10 (two running Pro, one running Home), and all the files tested were last modified using Excel 2016. I've tried all the solutions posted here so far - no joy. I did the feedback to MS are requested. Surely hope this get a solution quickly. Productivity is being killed!!
