Having a strange issue with Copy & Paste on my Windows 8.1 install. Whenever I copy a link, text or anything even a picture.. usually when I go to paste it.. either by keyboard shortcut (ctrl + V) or right clicking.. nothing is pasted. In the right click menu, Paste is there and not grayed out. It is very frustrating, as I always have to go back and copy it again and try again. Most of the time it works the second time sometimes it will not. Not sure even how to go about troubleshooting this.  Anyone else ever experience this issue? When copying and pasting from within the same app it doesn't happen. But more so when I am on a site.. I copy the address.. by the time I switch to Outlook and open a new message and paste, it's lost. 

Thank you

edit: trying to move this into th Windows 8.1 forum, but can't find out how, I apologize.

update: seems to be when copying is from a browser. Chrome, IE etc...

• Edited by MIssa11 Tuesday, April 01, 2014 5:25 PM
• Moved by Karen HuMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Wednesday, April 02, 2014 7:36 AM windows 8.1 issue

You can refresh Windows 8.1 and check the results.

Also, you can try a system restore.

Refer this : http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/5bbc11e8-ca2d-41ac-b640-d66ce971f58f/copy-paste-clipboard-issues-not-working?forum=w7itprogeneral

will this remove my applications I have installed?

Nevermind, yes it will. I don't want to have to reload the entire OS for this issue. 

• Edited by MIssa11 Tuesday, April 01, 2014 5:35 PM

Hi,

System Restore doesnt change your personal files, but it might remove recently installed apps and drivers.

For more information, please read this article:

How to  refresh, reset, or restore your PC

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows-8/restore-refresh-reset-pc

In addition, we could use clean boot to troubleshoot if there is some third-party software conflict.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

usually when I go to paste it.. either by keyboard shortcut (ctrl + V) or right clicking.. nothing is pasted. In the right click menu, Paste is there and not grayed out.

In XP we had clipbrd.exe to help diagnose these problems.

Try a third-party alternative I was recently made aware of but haven't tried myself:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/inside_clipboard.html

Here are some more that popped up from the same search but without specifying  site:nirsoft.net

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-clipboard-manager-viewer

This is a utility to show what is in the copy paste cache?

I noticed one thing that is consistent here, when I copy something.. if what I am pasting into is already open, it works. However if I "copy" something, and then have to click to open a new email, or open Word.. nothing is pasted. It's like if the very next action I take is anything other than paste, nothing gets pasted.

if I "copy" something, and then have to click to open a new email, or open Word.. nothing is pasted.

Sounds like the tool might give you something specific when comparing those cases.  E.g. perhaps the program needs to be there to be a server for the generation of the other ClipBoard formats?

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I ended doing doing a "remove everything and reinstall Windows" but the issue still persisted. So I just created a bootable USB and reinstalled windows from scratch, that solved the issue.  Having to copy and then going back and copying again was driving me nuts. 

Yes I have exactly the same issue: "if I "copy" something, and then have to click to open a new email, or open Word.. nothing is pasted."

I cant believe the only solution is to reinstal windows from scratch -its only a new OEM pc???

I cant believe the only solution is to reinstal windows from scratch

It probably is, unless you do some diagnosis to help understand your symptoms.

I'm experiencing something similar - and I have a fresh install of windows 8.1 64 (only about one week old).

What I've found is that it's only text (unformated) content that has the problem. Also, for some reason I can copy it into word... and then when I copy it from word it works (and is pasted as formated text)

This is sooooo strange.  Could it be the anti-virus (I'm using a new one that I haven't used before)? this is weird. It's a fresh install, and the first application that I installed was the anti-virus, and I've kept things really clean and have only installed a minimal set of applications.

I can copy it into word... and then when I copy it from word it works

That's common.  Mostly I use Notepad to do that.  Some use a third-party tool.

http://stevemiller.net/puretext/

FWIW I haven't used it.  I have seen it recommended, though not recently.

But if you have Office I think you already have more advanced Clipboard functionality than a normal Windows user.

Hmm... maybe not?

Paste Special option is missing or not working in Microsoft Office
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2702629/en-us

Check with an Office forum to be sure.

I've had the clipboard issue in Windows 8.1 where you can't paste unless the target app is opened before the copy operation.
After much Googling around, the solution that worked for me was to disable the Bluetooth add-in in Microsoft Word 2010. Had to do that in MS Outlook as well.
I also uninstalled an old Skype which I don't use, as it had been suggested elsewhere that the Skype "Click To Call" add-in caused some of these issues.

• Edited by mrnar 7 hours 11 minutes ago additional info
• Proposed as answer by mrnar 7 hours 10 minutes ago
• Unproposed as answer by mrnar 7 hours 10 minutes ago

I've had the clipboard issue in Windows 8.1 where you can't paste unless the target app is opened before the copy operation.
After much Googling around, the solution that worked for me was to disable the Bluetooth add-in in Microsoft Word 2010. Had to do that in MS Outlook as well.
I also uninstalled an old Skype which I don't use, as it had been suggested elsewhere that the Skype "Click To Call" add-in caused some of these issues.

• Edited by mrnar Saturday, June 13, 2015 12:12 AM additional info
• Proposed as answer by mrnar Saturday, June 13, 2015 12:13 AM
• Unproposed as answer by mrnar Saturday, June 13, 2015 12:13 AM

Uninstall Windows update KB3057839 and reboot your computer! Thereafter to avoid this been installed again hide the update.