v3ritas
Level 1 (2 points)

Q: Copy/Paste Not Always Working

I have a MBP Retina, Mid 2012 running OS X El Capitan (v.10.11) & sometimes have an issue with copy & paste which is really discouraging. There are times when I can copy & paste fine, however, a majority of the time I constant go back & forth between the two windows, trying to get it to work. I can see that there's something going on in the background, because the clipboard is getting cleared, ie: I copy & paste & it works, then I copy another block & attempt to paste it over some other selection of text. Instead of having the previous or current clipboard contents, it just erases the text, as if I copied an empty field (not even a space) & has the same effect as deleting what was highlighted, leaving nothing behind [kind of a hard thing to explain, so if that doesn't make sense to anyway I'll see if I can make it clearer in an edit].

 

I have tried multiple times (we're talking at least 5 times in the last few months) to completely blow away OS X & start from scratch, not using Time Machine or any other backup tools to restore data.

 

Has anyone else had this issue & figured out how to correct it. It is seriously annoying to have to bounce between the same two windows 4-5 times just to get a block of text copied.

 

Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 9, 2015 4:39 AM

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v3ritas

Q: Copy/Paste Not Always Working

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Nubz N.,

    Nubz N. Nubz N. Oct 9, 2015 9:43 AM in response to v3ritas
    Community Hosts
    Oct 9, 2015 9:43 AM in response to v3ritas

    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. 

  • by v3ritas,

    v3ritas v3ritas Oct 13, 2015 4:20 AM in response to Nubz N.
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Oct 13, 2015 4:20 AM in response to Nubz N.

    Yes, the problem occurs across all apps, nothing specific, ie: This morning it was a problem copying from Evernote to Outlook & it took four tries (making sure I was hitting CMD+C MULTIPLE times before trying to paste to make sure the keys were read).

     

    I have only installed Chrome, Outlook, & Evernote after each system wipe because I need them for work. The problem still occurs. I have never used a 3rd Party Clipboard program, but my next thought is to try that since Apple's default seems to be garbage.

     

    It is not a software conflict or unusable preference file. Each time I wiped the system my account was setup from scratch & the issue still occured.

  • by jeremy_v,

    jeremy_v jeremy_v Oct 16, 2015 3:47 PM in response to v3ritas
    Community Specialists
    Oct 16, 2015 3:47 PM in response to v3ritas

    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. 

  • by ea167,

    ea167 ea167 Apr 12, 2016 12:32 PM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Accessibility
    Apr 12, 2016 12:32 PM in response to v3ritas

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

  • by aidosk,

    aidosk aidosk Apr 22, 2016 4:43 AM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 22, 2016 4:43 AM in response to v3ritas

    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.

  • by cdbeshore,

    cdbeshore cdbeshore Apr 22, 2016 7:08 PM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 22, 2016 7:08 PM in response to v3ritas

    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

  • by sweth,

    sweth sweth Jun 1, 2016 4:58 AM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 1, 2016 4:58 AM in response to v3ritas

    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.

  • by RoodleB,

    RoodleB RoodleB Jun 8, 2016 8:21 PM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 8, 2016 8:21 PM in response to v3ritas

    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.

  • by MTM_09,

    MTM_09 MTM_09 Jun 10, 2016 6:42 PM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 10, 2016 6:42 PM in response to v3ritas

    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.

  • by leroydouglas,

    leroydouglas leroydouglas Jun 10, 2016 8:33 PM in response to v3ritas
    Level 7 (24,119 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 10, 2016 8:33 PM in response to v3ritas

    v3ritas wrote:

    sometimes have an issue with copy & paste.

     

    Open a guest account and see if it is universal?

  • by AlexHSG,

    AlexHSG AlexHSG Jul 14, 2016 8:45 AM in response to v3ritas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 14, 2016 8:45 AM in response to v3ritas

    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.