Core How-Tos

Fix copy and paste problems

"Copy and paste doesn't work" can mean the page blocks it, the site isn't allowed to use the clipboard, a clipboard manager is in the way, or the clipboard itself is stuck. Clipboard check tells them apart.

See what's going on

Open the panel and click Clipboard check under Support. It shows two things:

  • On the clipboard — each format that's there right now (plain text, formatting, an image), its size, and a preview.
  • This page — whether it's a secure page, whether the site may use the clipboard, whether embedded frames are blocked, whether a script cancels copy, cut or paste, and whether the text can't be selected.

Run the full test

Press Run full test to try nine ways Chrome copies and pastes, one after another. You get a plain verdict, and a report you can Copy report or Save report for a support ticket. Your clipboard is put back afterwards — its text, formatting and image.

Test on this page opens a test card on the page itself: it tries the site's own copy and paste, and gives you boxes to try Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. Its results show in the panel next time you open Clipboard check.

When a page blocks copying

If the check finds a script cancelling copy or paste, or text that can't be selected, press Unblock copy and paste. It lasts until the page reloads. Editors that handle paste themselves may misbehave while it's on — reload the page to put it back.

When it's broken everywhere

Chrome doesn't let an extension restart your computer's clipboard, so Restart the clipboard walks you through it instead. Choose Mac, Chromebook, Windows or Linux; the steps run quickest first, and you can try the test again after each one. Restart Chrome is one of them, and Copy these steps keeps them handy.

Clipboard managers and Windows clipboard history (Win+V) sit outside Chrome and can change what gets pasted, so try switching them off too.

Still stuck?

The links at the bottom of the view open the clipboard setting for this site, the clipboard settings for every site, the policies your company set, and whether this browser is managed. A company policy can block the clipboard on some sites; your IT team can tell you why.

Related guides

The clipboard is read only while this view is open — see Privacy & permissions. Ask AI can also talk a copy and paste problem through, using what the full test found.