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pboard quit unexpectedly - Copy/Paste broken in High Sierra

Last week while giving a lecture to a group of engineers I got this notification that pboard quit unexpectedly. I dismissed it, but it is reappeared multiple times. Also I suddenly am unable to paste anything! 😮 This is not just an irritation.


I did a web search and it seems others have had this problem, but no lasting solutions have been found. I did an OS reinstall, which seemed to work, but the problem came back. I've tried resetting PRAM and SMC with no improvement.


HELP!!!!


I am using encrypted disk and FLASH.


I need suggestions on what to try next. I am giving lectures and teaching using this machine to large groups of professional engineers, so this is going to look bad if I cannot illustrate software due to inability to cut-n-paste.

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), 2017 model

Posted on Feb 15, 2018 11:31 AM

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3 replies

Feb 16, 2018 1:22 PM in response to David C Black

I have installed every operating system point release upgrade for years, including the current macOS 10.13.3, and have never encountered any issue with NSPasteboard quitting. This suggests to me that you, and the others reporting this issue have installed something, perhaps innocently, that is causing this issue, and may not be an Apple issue.


Let's start with Flash. Occasionally, there are fake Flash pop-ups that tell you to update your version of Flash, but in reality are front-ends for malware. If you did not purposely get Flash from the official Adobe Flash site, then you may have been invaded. In any event, it might be indicated to run Malwarebytes to see if it finds anything, and offers to remove it. It is a free, 14-day trial, and I personally use it, without compensation for its recommendation.


What applications have you installed just prior to the NSPasteboard failing issues? What applications or drivers are out of date for High Sierra? Are you using a potentially incompatible third-party clip-board manager? Any anti-virus, or so-called Mac cleaner/deep configuration products that can be causing collateral damage?


If you were to boot into Safe Mode, do the NSPasteboard messages persist, or stop occurring?


If so far, nothing seems to resolve this, I also recommend downloading, running EtreCheck, and posting the results here. It will protect your privacy. Again, I use this tool, as do many others here in the communities, and receive no compensation for its recommendation either.

pboard quit unexpectedly - Copy/Paste broken in High Sierra

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