# [SOLVED] Copy &amp; Paste / Clipboard not working



## Phil2k (Apr 6, 2012)

Dear all,

I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to troubleshoot this problem for nearly 3 weeks now. Let me begin by first giving the most detailed description of the problem, then highlight the things that I have tried and have learnt about the problem.

Basically, my copy & paste/clipboard function is not working as it once did, to be specific I am unable to paste in anything other than Unitcode Text. Whether this problem is materializing at the copy or paste side is something I am unsure about, regardless, I lose all formats, HTML, rich text, formulas, you name it I cannot paste it in anything other than plain text.

Initially I thought this was a Microsoft Office issue, but I am unsure about this as the copy and paste feature seems to suffer this same issue when copy and pasting from an internet page to Wordpad, neither IE or Wordpad are MS Office products.

I have had some minor success in troubleshooting this problem, or at least discovering some interesting characteristics of it. If, for example, I create a new user account/profile on my PC and open Excel in that new account, the copy and paste feature works as normal and will copy and paste whatever I choose. I thought that was interesting, although I’m no expert I guess that means it is a software issue of some sort and not hardware (when I spoke to Microsoft they tried to blame Dell). Furthermore, my IT department managed to troubleshoot successfully to a very small degree by tinkering with the 3 settings in the advanced options section of Excel under Copy and Paste section, although the problem would just suddenly return again within hours.

I have not made any changes to the way I work, this problem just seems to have come out of nowhere. This exact same problem forced me to abandon my previous laptop (an HP laptop that I’d been using without issue for over 2 years) last week, but this problem seems to have followed me to my new laptop (a spare and newer laptop that we had lying around the office).

Here is some info about my setup:


Dell Latitude E4310 Laptop
Intel Core i5 2.53GHz CPU
4GB RAM
Windows 7 (32-Bit) Service Pack 1
MS Office 2010 Home & Business
AVG FREE Anti-Virus
Logitech Solar Power K750 wireless keyboard
Logitech Wireless Mouse

I am pretty much at the end of my tether and close to doing a full reinstall of Windows 7 :banghead:.

Thanks,

Phil


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## Phil2k (Apr 6, 2012)

*Re: Copy & Paste / Clipboard not working*

Significant Update:

I have finally located the precise cause of this issue. It is the Skype Click to Call plug in. There is something in that application that causes a conflict with the clipboard. I closed all internet browsers and the copy & paste feature worked fine, I then uninstalled Sky Click to Call on Chrome (my primary browser), opened Chrome only and copy & paste fully function. I then opened Firefox (my secondary browser) which still had Skype Click to Call installed and the copy & paste feature failed. I uninstalled it from Firefox, opened Firefox again and copy & paste feature worked, I did exactly the same for Internet Explorer and the same pattern followed. I have no totally removed the plug-in from my PC for all internet browsers and my copy & paste functions is back to normal.

I do not know if there are any other reports of this, I certainly do not have this problem on my home PC but just thought I would make everyone aware.

Skype Click to Call internet plug-in causes a conflict with the clipboard.


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## shawnpb (May 30, 2010)

*Re: Copy & Paste / Clipboard not working*

Hello and welcome to TSF!! I am glad you have narrowed it done and solved the issue. This will indeed help others with the same issue if any. Please mark the thread as solved by using the thread tools above.


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## flamgat (Nov 16, 2012)

When I saw this thread I was excited as I thought I was maybe minutes away from this annoying issue which has just cropped up on my machine also. Sadly, the fix you mention will not work for me as I do not have the Skype plug-in you refer to installed anywhere on my laptop. I am running:

HP Pavilion DM4 
Windows 7 (64 bit)

Has anyone any other ideas for me please? The main problem is that I cannot copy and paste from my regular non-internet software to any software that runs from the internet or to any internet form fields. I have tried tech support with various different manufacturers but keep coming up short. Like you, the issue appeared out of nowhere and appears to have no fix.

HELP!


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## time will tell (Nov 27, 2012)

Hi flamgat,

I, too, had this problem, and I may have the answer you are looking for. I upgraded my browser to Internet Explorer 9, but did not update my Adobe Flashplayer to the newest version. Once I did this & rebooted, all was fine. Whether or not you have upgraded or switched your internet browser, I suggest you ensure your Adobe Flashplayer version is the most current available for your operating system.

Good Luck!


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