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Answered

Copy & Paste not always working - randomly

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
March 3, 2019
47 replies
96600 views

Hi all,

This is a very frustrating bug - around 50% of the times copy & paste won't work. I select an object, press ctrl+C, and then pressing ctrl+V produces nothing as if the clipboard is empty.

I cannot reproduce it as it seems random, sometimes it will copy & paste, sometimes it won't.

This makes working with Illustrator extremely hard.

Might be worth mentioning that copy-pasting from Illustrator into Photoshop resembles the same buggy behavior - it will randomly work or not.

Please advise on how to resolve this.

Cheers

Correct answer Anubhav M

Hi everyone,

We completely understand how disruptive copy-paste issues in Illustrator can be, especially when they interrupt an active workflow. Copy-paste problems usually fall into a few specific categories (clipboard preferences, file formats, system-level conflicts), and we've put together a dedicated post that walks through each with the corresponding fix:

Why copy-paste breaks in Illustrator and how to fix it

Please work through the suggestions there and share what you observe - whether the issue clears up, partially improves, or persists. Your feedback helps us keep the post accurate and complete for other users facing the same trouble.

Anubhav

[Note: Marked as correct for visibility]

Show previous replies

J

jasonm51191833

Participant

Reset preferences and it was working just fine. Edit Preferences General Reset button at the bottom. This was the solution from tech support chat that solved my problem.

L

Lagrotan

Participant

Same issue here. Both shortcut and menu are not working, exactly like in the video that Evilspam posted here in this thread. It happens even in Illustrator 25.2, newest update I installed. It happens irregardless of what I have running in the background. If I restart the system (Windows 10) and run only Illustrator it still happens.
I turned off "Include SVG code", I tried to reset preferences, it didn't help. It happens with cut and paste, copy paste, copy in front...
It's very time consuming, because you have to undo and try again many times if it's failing.
But also I have lost work because of this, because I didn't notice cut and paste didn't work. Basically cut and paste would delete parts of my graphic.

F

FloridaFatherOf3

Inspiring

Same. Have tried all of the solutions on this tread and no joy. Same issue constantly. Where is Freehand when you need it? lol

C

chencongz56628862

Participant

If you keep the object selected, it would end up being copied.

Meaning don't click anywhere else after you select and copy it.

theresaw53474723

Participant

Thank you satria03! I read your post to see where you got your answer from, couldn't find it so I just turned off my SVG option and BAM, it works! I work for a printing company, we don't do web design so I don't think I'll have an issue with it being off.

satria03

Participant

your welcome

A

amonserrano1

Participant

I have the same issue, currently using version 24.1.1 but had this problem with previous versions 22 and 23 too. still the same... Never had it with the good old CS5

Tried resetting preferences many times - from Illustrator, from Windows (deleting pref files from AppData/Roamign folder) and also the trick with ALT-CTRL-SHIFT ... none of them solves the issue permanently. The only thing works temporarily is restarting Illustrator everytime when stops working. when I exit Illustrator it clears the Clipboard and after restart i can use the Paste tool - once or twice and then starts again... very very frustrating.

does not matter what file what shape...

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Is a clipboard enhancing tool installed?

What else is running?

For most people this issue is caused by other applications interfering. You only have to find out which one it is. There are several threads on the same issue that list several apps causing it.

A

amonserrano1

Participant

Thanks. I do not have any extra clipboard tool installed and usually I run Chrome and Outlook, but these are not affecting it as the problem occurs when these are closed or after the computer freshly restarted and only Illustrator running. (+some apps in the background like onedrive, Skype, CC Desktop and antivirus+ whatever Win10 running in the background) . I understand maybe interferring with other apps but maybe it should not ? these are very standard apps, i have nothing special running or installed. do not use the clipboard in any other apps apart from Illustrator...

tried founding solutions online, as said it is a problem for years now for me but all i read is to reset the preferences or it is an other app... but no idea what it can be and surely more could be done to investigate (reinstall the whole computer or similar but i do not have time for this and actually I gave up rather - luckly i do not need to use Illustrator every day...

P

praveenkumarpgiindia

Participant

I am also having the same bug. Copy-paste is not working on objects. Very irritating and spoils the speed of work.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Is any clipboard enhancing app installed?

Can you try if turning off the SVG option in Preferences > File Handling and Clipboard helps?

satria03

Participant

wah... thank you sooo much!!! after all the methods I've tried, finally this "turning off the SVG option in Preferences" method can solve my "copy-paste Lag/Bug" problem in my Adobe Illustrator.

thankyu very much!

P

praveenkumarpgiindia

Participant

I am working with Adobe Illustrator. I am having the same copy-paste issues. It seriously wastes our time and mind. Please have a clear fix. We have tried all those methodologies mentioned here. None works. The problem is only with objects like rectangles and triangles, which are like building blocks for any of the works.

K

KarenB69

Participant

I actually can get it to work but I have to use the drop down menus to copy and paste. It's my work around to get the function to work.

tpdccm

Participating Frequently

The issue has been there for years multiple versions, i did a complete new install new windows 10 and new install adobe programms complete new system. Copy/paste randomly does not work in illustrator/photoshop/indesign/premiere/dreamweaver, pressing CTRL C for 5 or 10 times sometimes helps. Its not the keyboard, and i don't want to delete my settings took me days to get everything right.

I don't understand that adobe can not respons or solve this, we pay a lot of money to use their programs.

It is super annoying when you have a deadline and the program does not do what it is supose to.

M

medpub123

Participant

This is an Adobe problem, as it also happens with Photoshop 5 and Pagemill (yes two old softwares) - no other software. I have tried Ctrl C & V and the drop down menu. both no good. It seems to happen after the software has been running a while - maybe idle. I have to close everything and start up again then its OK.

Sometimes when it happns in Photoshop I open PAINT (yes PAINT!) and copy and paste just to get the job done.

I thought there might be a key combo that would fix it, like when your PC overwrites your text (ctrl Insert or is it just Insert?).
I am surpised Adobe (who are abunch of s**ts for what they did in Venezuela recen tly!!!) would have addressed this bug.

BTW: Its amazing how many times I go to sites like this and the so called techies no absolutely nothing.
I get more results from guys on youtube even if the heavy Indian accent is hard to understand.

L

Luthee

Participant

Hi, I've had this issue for as far as I can remember, always thought it was either my PC or an aging Win10 install acting up, but I formatted and re-installed win10 as well as Illustrator a few days ago, settings are untouched... The issue is pretty bad...

I'll try updating when I have time to do so (I usually don't update software right when an update is available, it's a habit).

Edit : Issue still present, I'm now using Illustrator CC 2020 v24.0.2