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Can't Copy/Paste in Illustrator

Community Beginner ,
May 04, 2016 May 04, 2016

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Hey there!

I've just run into a very weird problem with Illustrator CC. I can't seem to copy and paste anything. I'm not copying or pasting from another program or even from another illustrator file, copying simply doesn't add anything to the clipboard and paste is always grayed out in the Edit menu.

After googling a bit I saw a forum post on the Google Chrome forums saying the issue was related to Chrome being open and the Skype Click-to-call extension interfering with Illustrator's clipboard, but I don't have the Skype Click-to-call extension and even if I close Chrome and relaunch Illustrator, no luck.

I'm all out of ideas, can anyone help? As you can imagine this is super frustrating!

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Adobe
Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2016 Jul 25, 2016

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Prym77 schrieb:

Hey.
From about 2 or 3 months I have a similar problem: Copy / Paste is not working. But in my case it's totally strange thing. Sometimes it works over several days, and then not working the next few days.
I cleaned configuration files, uninstalled an application using Adobe tools registry cleaner - it did not work. I bought a new computer processor I7 because something can not work with the old ... once running once does not work.
For 3 years Illustrator work RELIABLE !!! I do not know if it's any update. Generally, I work on simple vector graphics, with no mods and add-ons, but VERY need a running copy / paste function.
I think after 3 years come to part with your application, because to work with it is impossible.
Sorry for bad english.

Which version?

Which system?

Are any clipboard enhacing utilities installed in the system?

What exactly does not work step by step?

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 25, 2016 Jul 25, 2016

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Which version? - Illustrator CC 2015.2.1 (19.2.1 - 64-bit)

Which system?  - Windows 10 - x64

Are any clipboard enhacing utilities installed in the system? No, I never installed any booster system. The problem with the application appeared suddenly without warning. I just run and copy / paste does not work, other times I run and it works. it is very frustrating.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 25, 2016 Jul 25, 2016

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I'm not referring to boosters.

Please read this about that kind of software.

Best Free Clipboard Managers for Windows

You can also check Illustrator's preferences for Clipboard handling. Maybe uncheck the SVG option.

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 26, 2016 Jul 26, 2016

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I installed the recommended program. Illustrator began to copy and paste, so thank you very much. Unfortunately, every time I copy Illustrator freezes for a few seconds (from 3 to 5 seconds). But it's important that temporarily works.

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Contributor ,
Jun 30, 2019 Jun 30, 2019

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I am having this issue on my Illustrator CC 2019. The difference is that it only happens sometimes.

It's driving me nuts! I need to know how to fix it.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 30, 2019 Jun 30, 2019

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doctortao  schrieb

I am having this issue on my Illustrator CC 2019. The difference is that it only happens sometimes.

It's driving me nuts! I need to know how to fix it.

What exactly does not work step by step?

Do you restart the computer regularly?

Does it work when you shut off everything else? This includes especially browsers.

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Contributor ,
Jul 04, 2019 Jul 04, 2019

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There is no rhyme or reason to when it happens. It can sometimes happen when I copy (ctrl + c) within Illustrator and try to paste in the same document (or another). Or copy from a program like Word and paste into my Illustrator document. I get a message that says "Cannot place text" or something like it - I will screenshot it next time it happens.

It also has happened with other assets in the program - Shapes, Images, graphics, etc.

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Community Expert ,
Jul 04, 2019 Jul 04, 2019

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It's important what exactly you copy from where.

You cannot place anything from any other application. That might work most of the time, but each application puts something different in the clipboard.

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 08, 2019 Jul 08, 2019

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@alfreds72370307  I was having the same problem. I was trying to copy Illustrator paths to after effects solids to use as masks. Something I've done a bunch of times in the past. Sometimes it would work, others it wouldn't. Even copying and pasting the same path would infrequently work. Unchecking the "include SVG code" in the file handling preferences of Illustrator, like @Monika Gause mentioned, seemed to do the trick. I have been able to copy and paste without much issue.

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New Here ,
Jul 05, 2020 Jul 05, 2020

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Posting just in case anyone had the same issue as me:

I found out that my 'Copy' keyboard shortcut had disappeared somehow, so I just went to Keyboard Shortcuts (alt + shift + ctrl + K on Windows or opt + shift + cmd + K on Mac) and added 'Ctrl + C' back under Menu Commands > Edit > Copy.

Hope you find a fix for yours! 🙂

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New Here ,
Mar 03, 2022 Mar 03, 2022

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Ok so this has been driving me nuts for years. I have illustrator on several different computers (macos, windows, different versions of each). I have one windows computer that always has issues with the copy and paste breaking. I've tried all kinds of solutions like deleting the preferences files and not including SVG code, turning windows clipboard history on and off, but I've never found a solution.

Here is exactly what happens: Copy paste works fine until I try to copy anything from inside of a clip group. I can paste inside of the clip group, but if I exit that group I cannot paste the object or anything else that I try to copy from that point forward. The only exception is that if I take the text tool and type anything, then copy that, then deselect the text and paste the text it works fine and all of the paste functionality is restored including copying and pasting from inside clip groups until it randomly breaks again.

If anyone has any suggestions for this, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

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New Here ,
Mar 09, 2022 Mar 09, 2022

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Hey guys, I had the same issue. Then I started thinking outside the box, and the issue really was that in Keyboard Shortcuts, the Copy shortcut was removed for some reason. So check that out, maybe it will work for you.

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