Copy/Paste Not Always Working

I've been a copy and paste junkie for 20+ years, so I know what it's supposed to feel like. There is definitely something wrong here in OSX. I have been noticing this intermittently for years. Like others have mentioned in this thread, I now just always tap cmd-C three or four times, especially when it's something important. It's insane.

If you don't visually confirm the "Edit" menu flashed, there's no guarantee you actually copied. I'm on a 2011 MBP with El Capitan.

This has been going on for many many years on Macs. I don't bother to try to copy something I need just once anymore - I hold down on command+c and wait for it to repeat a few dozen times before I exit the window and go to the destination to paste. I see other Mac users do the same thing all the time. We're just used to it.

So here is how you fix the problem:

1. Hold down on the command+c keys and watch the edit menu highlight to acknowledge you just hit a command key sequence found in it.
2. Keep holding the keys down and the command will repeat multiple times (my repeating key rate is fast so maybe a dozen or more for just a second or two of holding down the keys.
3. Once you have repeated the copy command a few dozen times using this method then you will be able to paste pretty reliably and the problem will go away.

Apple must know about this trouble as many people at Apple probably use Macs, but they, like us, have most liekly just gotten used to it.

Greetings v3ritas,

Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.

It seems like there's an intermittent issue with copy & paste on your Mac. I understand that a situation like this can be discouraging and annoying. Here are some questions and recommendations to keep in mind that may help lead to a resolution.

First, does this behavior happen in all apps? For example, can you copy and paste text between two TextEdit documents?

Since you've started with a clean install of OS X multiple times, what apps have been reinstalled on your Mac each time you start over? For example, if you've installed third party software that manages the clipboard, try disabling or uninstalling them temporarily.

You can also test in a new user account, which may rule out software conflicts or unusable preferences files. See How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac.

All the best.

Hi v3ritas,

Thanks for your reply.

Based on what you describe, we recommend reaching out to Apple Support using one of the methods on this page-- https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action.

Best Regards.

Same problem here, with a variety of software => it's a MacOS problem (I have El Capitan too), not specific to any particular software

Has anyone made any progress on this? Having the same issue and it's highly frustrating. I only upgraded to El Capitan a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't a problem before then. My guess is it's something like a race condition on the selecting of text and the copy action. I'm often double / triple clicking to select the content I want to copy. It seems to be a new issue in El Capitan.

I'm having a similar problem. Copy/paste and click/drag will just randomly quit working. The only thing I've found to fix is a reboot. Just started in the new version of El Capitan. 10.11.4

Seeing the same thing here, on both 10.11.4 and now 10.11.5. Only way to resolve so far has been to reboot.

Same problem - seems to be only a problem pasting into Outlook Mac. Tried updating to OS X El Capitan but still happening. Can't find any solutions in forums. Very annoying! Reboot doesn't help me either.

Same here, iMac mid-2011, Outlook for Mac 2011, OSX 10.9.5.

Only way to make it work, Command+Option+Shift+V, complicated and annoying..

until now.

Then found a very useful link which has the perfect solution:

https://havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer/set-paste-match-style-default-mac- osx

Now it works like a charm.

hope it helps.

v3ritas wrote:

sometimes have an issue with copy & paste.

Open a guest account and see if it is universal?

Really frustrating issue, most commonly out of a web browser, Chrome/Firefox.

Have to use an intermediate program like text edit to paste into and copy out of.

Holding down the Command + C for 10 seconds or so did not resolve the issue for me. This is so frustrating.