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15

Copy & Paste not always working - randomly

Explorer ,
Mar 03, 2019 Mar 03, 2019

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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

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correct answers 5 Correct answers

Community Expert , Mar 03, 2019 Mar 03, 2019

Have you tried deleting Preference?

How to set preferences in Illustrator

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Community Expert , May 27, 2020 May 27, 2020

Is any clipboard enhancing app installed?

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

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Community Beginner , Jul 27, 2020 Jul 27, 2020

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!

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New Here , Dec 25, 2022 Dec 25, 2022

Hi! I have the answer.

I am lucky that in my case I use copy paste a lot for drawing everyday so I know exactly when that weird behavior happen.

I uninstall this 3 program to fix the issue,
- chrome remote desktop
- mouse pointer highlighter
- anyViewer

*I installed those program to setup my tablet as secondary monitor, but it doesnt feel good anyway.

Once I uninstalled all of them and restart my Illustrator all working fine. I still don't know what the culprit is, but for my case it must be in one of

...

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Community Beginner , Mar 10, 2023 Mar 10, 2023

Here is an update of my issue of copy and paste in Illustrator.
Have switched keyboard, Now using Logitech keyboard and mouse on the same wireless usb dongle.

 

I must say, problem is gone.

So maybe this issue also can be caused by keyboard set up..

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correct answers 1 Pinned Reply

Adobe Employee , Jan 27, 2023 Jan 27, 2023

Hi @ivobachkov,

 

We are sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind updating the app to v27.2, released recently, and see if that helps?

 

This generally happens due to third-party application interfering with keyboard shortcuts when working on Illustrator.

Would you mind booting into safe mode (Mac/ Windows) and launching Illustrator to check whether the same behavior is happening?

 

Also, would you mind confirming the exact version of your Illustrator & OS installed on your machine?

 

...

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Adobe
replies 131 Replies 131
Community Expert ,
Feb 22, 2024 Feb 22, 2024

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@ivobachkov  schrieb:

It's one year later, bug's still roaming, nothing fixes that - no updates, no leaving it as the only app working (no taskbar or background processes that may cause shortcut interference). 


 

Also nothing turned on in the system settings that cause interference?

 

Please post this to https://illustrator.uservoice.com 

Because in this long thread the engineers won't ever read it. They do not read the forum. anyway.

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New Here ,
Feb 23, 2024 Feb 23, 2024

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Crashing or not crashing it slows down working... I have another "great" experience with Adobe Cloud in Illustrator. On my first computer it remembers the folder location I was in last time, on the other it doesn't xD. Why? Who knows 😄

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New Here ,
Mar 09, 2023 Mar 09, 2023

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Well i have exactly the same issue and i don't even talk about the other bugs. Serioulsy Adobe is shitting on us without any regard. I can't use it anymore has a professionnal, i have too many times, try to fix or work around problem. But here a f*cking Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V not working ONLY on adobe is way too much for me.
My best advice, give a try to Affinity Designer and forget about illustrator. 

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Community Expert ,
Mar 09, 2023 Mar 09, 2023

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Find the application that is interfering with your clipboard and turn it off.

For some people it was Apple Mail. But it can be yoiur browser or any of its plugins, antivirus, some clipboard "enhancer", Office and a couple other apps.

 

If you find that the inability of copying and pasting impedes your workflow then I'm not quite sure what you think switching to Affinity Designer will do.

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 08, 2023 Feb 08, 2023

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Hello,
I also have this f#ct up problem since im working with Windows 11 ( before working with windows 11 i still used windows 7 till 2022 )

Well sometimes i have to press CTRL + C about 3 seconds and the clipboard appears in the right corner of windows.
After this ''appeared'' i can past the copied item.

So try to press CTRL +C for about 3 seconds, maybe works with you also..

I think its also a Windows 11 or 10 clipboard issue..

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 08, 2023 Feb 08, 2023

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well, it works 'better' but not the solution, because sometimes it doesnt work..

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 10, 2023 Mar 10, 2023

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Here is an update of my issue of copy and paste in Illustrator.
Have switched keyboard, Now using Logitech keyboard and mouse on the same wireless usb dongle.

 

I must say, problem is gone.

So maybe this issue also can be caused by keyboard set up..

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Engaged ,
Feb 10, 2023 Feb 10, 2023

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Adobe needs to put the entire Illustrator dev staff on probation. The amount of bugs I deal with daily keep piling up. Nothing ever gets resolved. EVER!!!! I'm dealing with year 10+ on some of them, but the most annoying hands down is this new copy paste issue as well as the selection tool innacurracies on 4k or with stylus based systems. I ahve to zoom in to 1600% on a rectangle just to be able to move it rather than rotate it or scale it. Sometimes scaling rotates and object and sometimes rotating scales. 

 

Illustrator feels like freaking surgery these days. It takes minutes to do what should take seconds and those minutes add up. Not to mention how hard it is to find a groove in your workflow when Illustrator is always the number 1 blocker.

 

The other is this phantom bug that removes Illustrator from focus in windows randomly. You have to go to the toolbar and click illustrator to refocus. Imagine just having to ignore these 3 major bugs multiple times per hour, every day. I have 3+ PCs and all these behaviors happen on all 3 and they are all using different OS, peripherals, etc.

 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 14, 2023 Mar 14, 2023

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I've been having this problem for years. Briefly, ctrl-c from photoshop and ctrl-v into illustrator most of the time pastes the object most recently pasted but not the one in the clipboard.

 

All the suggestions that have been posted by others are innane. 

 

1. No, it's not "something interfering with keyboard shortcuts" problem. The item that has been ctrl+c cut from photoshop does exist in the clipboard and can be pasted into any other application with 100% success (e.g. keynote).

2. No, it's not "something is interfering with the clipboard" problem. This can be demonstrated easily by #1 above.

3. No, it's not "delete your preferences" issue. This does nothing. And also, if this was indeed a solution then why would I settle for it? Now I have to reconstruct my carefully tweaked preferences. Oh, Adobe, it's time to add a "search" in the preferences panel for all your products. They're out of control.

4. No, it's not "reinstall the application" issue.

5. No, it's not "upgrade to the latest version" issue. The problem has been persisting for years across many versions of Illustrator.

6. No, it's not "upgrade to latest OS" issue. See #5 above.

7. No, "hit ctrl-c several times" in Photoshop is not a solution. There is broadly no correlation. 

 

It's an Illustrator problem. The copied item always pastes successfully into any other application. 100% of the time. 

 

The issue is some kind of bizarre bug where, depending on the current state of the stack, the problem arises. Many people have said "I did XYZ and it went away", where XYZ is a different thing for each user. This means that XYZ is not a solution but just indirectly changes the app's stack somehow. 

 

Illustrator code is brittle, buggy and slow. I'm *this* close to switching to Affinity Designer and the only reason I'm not is because I teach Illustrator. Thereby propagating the nightmare.

 

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Community Expert ,
Mar 16, 2023 Mar 16, 2023

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quote

I've been having this problem for years. Briefly, ctrl-c from photoshop and ctrl-v into illustrator most of the time pastes the object most recently pasted but not the one in the clipboard.

 

The default computer clipboard can contain 1 item. You copy another item, then this will erase the previous item. That's how clipboards work. Illustrator will paste whatever is currently in the clipboard. If it doesn't paste the thing that you just copied, then this can point to 2 different things:

 

1. The copying of the object failed

2. You actually have a system extension installed that enhances the clipboard, because if you can paste the thing into other apps, but not into Illustrator, then there are 2 things in the clipboard.

 

Illustrator does not cooperate well with those clipboard "enhancers".

 

 

Illustrator code is brittle, buggy and slow. I'm *this* close to switching to Affinity Designer and the only reason I'm not is because I teach Illustrator. Thereby propagating the nightmare.


By @martinkrz

 

If the copy-paste issue already limits your workflow then you'll be surprised just how much using Affinity Dersigner will impact yoiur workflow.

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Mentor ,
Mar 16, 2023 Mar 16, 2023

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"I've been having this problem for years" "I teach Illustrator"

Hmmm... So over the "years" all of your students suffered from exactly this problem too?

Absolutely no one else has "been having this problem for years" guaranteed. It's a fundamental use of the app, so having this problem would be all over this forum. Every time someone does have an issue with copy paste, it's a third party utility or software issues with third party peripherals.

Therefore it's your particular set up.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 16, 2023 Mar 16, 2023

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Thanks for the helpful reply.

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Mentor ,
Mar 16, 2023 Mar 16, 2023

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You're most welcome.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 17, 2023 Mar 17, 2023

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Please - can you advise HOW to eliminate this issue, the last 3-4 months have been horrendous with this issue. When we need this functionality - The only thing I can suspect is logitech MX master mouse? 

If it was a software conflict, why just reset preferences every time, Adobe changes settings in my computer that affect other aspects of my workflow to make their fix seem wonderful.... it lasts half a day then back to not working again. It is utterly painful.

 

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 30, 2023 Jun 30, 2023

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Living with this problem for a number of years now... I agree with @martinkrz 100%, it's an Adobe Illustrator problem, but probably too small for them to care. Probably we will see GTA 7 sooner than this problem getting fixed... 😄

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New Here ,
Feb 22, 2024 Feb 22, 2024

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I can confirm that the issue still exists in 2024. In my case it is ALWAYS when I switch windows too fast (to the destination app) after CTRL+C. It looks like Illustrator needs some time to copy the image and if something interrupts this process (like loosing window focus) it is cancelled. It is also the case in the Illustrator tabs itself - if I switch tab too fast - result is the same as above.

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Explorer ,
Mar 13, 2024 Mar 13, 2024

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this is still an issue, Not a keyboard issue, reset peferances, no clipboard apps installed, SVG has been turned off for awhile because having that on greatly slows down work with somef files. Yet still not ways pasting after hiting copy and it only happens with illustrator randomly. I swear everytime they put out an update something else is messed up. 

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 17, 2024 Apr 17, 2024

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I've been having this issue for a few years now and it's STILL doing it. I tried everything. The preference change doesn't do anything and neither does closing chrome. It sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I use Ctrl+c/Ctrl=v like a thousand times a day so it's infurating when it's not working. PLEASE FIX THIS ADOBE.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 17, 2024 Apr 17, 2024

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quote

I've been having this issue for a few years now and it's STILL doing it. I tried everything. The preference change doesn't do anything and neither does closing chrome. It sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I use Ctrl+c/Ctrl=v like a thousand times a day so it's infurating when it's not working. PLEASE FIX THIS ADOBE.


By @sferris77

 

Here is a list of settings and third party apps that interfere with the clipboard

  • Parallels Toolbox running with the Clipboard History
  • TeamVewer Clipboard > Use Shared Clipboard
  • Apple iOS device simulator from Xcode
  • Windows Multi-clipboard
  • Windows Clipboard History
  • Chrome Remote Desktop
  • Mouse Pointer Highlighter
  • AnyViewer
  • Pastebot app
  • Overzealous antivirus (Digital Guardian) as well as viruses that empty the clipboard
  • Vector Magic

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 17, 2024 Apr 17, 2024

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I have none of these apps installed.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 17, 2024 Apr 17, 2024

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Can you create a new user account on your computer, launch into it and then try if Illustrator is still doing it when you are running only Illustrator? Not even a browser.

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Explorer ,
Apr 18, 2024 Apr 18, 2024

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This does not solve the problem, even on a clean installed windows 11 machine with fresh install of adobe programms. Still the problem exists. Sometimes have to press CTRL C 10 times to copy an item. It is very annoying that the problem is still not resolved. In a prodcution enviroment this is not what you want from a product that keeps getting more expensive. Copy past is a basic function that should be working without problems.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 18, 2024 Apr 18, 2024

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Does it work when you select it from the menu?

Your shortcuts might be a completely different thing than the overall functioning of the clipboard.

 

What else is running on your computer? A browser? Browsers are known to interfere with both the clipboard and the modifier keys. Same goes for browser plugins.

 

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Explorer ,
Apr 18, 2024 Apr 18, 2024

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The menu has the same behaviour, sometimes you have to click it 10 times for copy to be visible in that same menu. We recently did a clean install of windows 11, no extra programs only adobe. Same problem.

 

And in a working enviroment not running a browser to get rid of a problem within illustrator. That is not realy a solution.

 

Copy paste works in other programs only adobe programs are having problems. Copying elements from illustrator to photoshop als does not work sometimes.

 

Same goes for acrobat copy text from a pdf sometimes works and sometimes does not.

 

All the wile in other programs copy paste just works. For instance if i have to copy text from a pdf to illustrator it does not work. I then first copy the text to notepad and from notepad into illustrator that works.

 

When having element in illustrator that you want to copy to another illustrator file or just in the same file it does not work. Even dragging from one to the other file sometimes does not work. Now i first save the file and then import the file. For simple logos or style elements this is very annoying.

 

It all takes up much time just to copy an element it does not matter what element you select text or an object. Clicking multiple time in the menu on copy, and than waiting for paste to get selectable is no way of working.

 

I just tried again closed all programs opened illustrator, made a square, then edit -> copy, no paste option clicked it 4 times and yes i can paste the element.

 

What i often also use is the +icon in the layers pannel an drag the element on that icon to make a copy. Also not very efficient to do when you have a large working screen.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 18, 2024 Apr 18, 2024

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Do you have ProofPoint installed?

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