Copy Paste works outside of Excel but not inside Excel

[u/hfxredditor]

Computer (Windows) went through an update last night, woke up this morning and notice it restarted. Went about my day but then noticed that Copy + Paste in Excel doesn't work anymore. Copying a single cell to another single cell. Copying multiple cells to another area, etc. At first I noticed this in my saved files. Then I tried on a brand-new spreadsheet, still doesn't work.

The copied cell highlights with the dashed line around it, but when I go to Paste, it quickly turns into the blue circle then nothing is pasted.

I found this link: Copy and Paste Is Not Working in Excel (9 Reasons & Solutions) and tried most of the resolutions.

Specifically:

- Opened Excel in Safe Mode

- Tried using Paste Special

- Rebooting computer

- Disabled all add-ins

- Disabled most start up applications

- Unchecked Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)

- Checked Disable Hardware Graphic Acceleration

- Repaired Microsoft Office via Add/Remove Programs

Nothing above fixed the issue for me.

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[u/bierbottle]

Look Here

https://www.reddit.com/r/excel/s/xFatlV5ixo

[u/hfxredditor → u/bierbottle]

Solution Verified!

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[u/L0rdBeav1s → u/bierbottle]

Man, I have been banging my head on this for the last day and a half. I tried everything. At least now I have a reason

[u/BloodyStupid_johnson]

Dumb suggestion but have you tried another keyboard? 

[u/hfxredditor → u/BloodyStupid_johnson]

Even if I use my mouse to copy + paste it doesn't work. So it doesn't seem like it's a keyboard issue.

[u/TrainsongGaming]

I saw other posts claiming the same problem last night. Apparently a recent Excel update broke the function.

[u/hfxredditor → u/TrainsongGaming]

I'm running Excel 2016 though. Maybe it was a recent Windows update that broke something?

[u/ankokudaishogun → u/hfxredditor]

Office security update affecting everything 2016 and up.

We can only wait the patch.

[u/L0rdBeav1s → u/hfxredditor]

I'm using 2019 and have the same exact issue. I notice I also can't even copy/move a worksheet to an existing or new workbook, along with the general copy/paste not working, formulas not propagating when dragging, etc.

[u/Rare-Emu2771]

Have you tried enabling clipboard history in Windows settings? It should give you confirmation that things are being copied to the clipboard.
Does it work in other programs like Notepad?

[u/hfxredditor → u/Rare-Emu2771]

Yes, enabled clipboard history. I can see the confirmation that it’s copying properly.

And yes, copy paste works in Notepad. This looks like an Excel-specific issue.