[SOLVED] Copy and Paste Not Working on Windows 11

Some users reported that after they updated to Windows 11, copy and paste (mostly the keyboard shortcut) would suddenly stop working on their computers from time to time. It’s quite a common glitch, but not a hard one to fix. If you have encountered similar issues, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll show you how to fix this problem.

Try these fixes…

You don’t have to try all of them, just work your way down the list until you find the one that does your trick!

1: Close unnecessary programs

2: Repair corrupted system files

3: Clear clipboard history

4:Restart the Windows Explorer process

5: Restart the RDP Clipboard Monitor

Bonus tip: Update your device drivers

Fix 1: Close unnecessary programs

The first fix you can try is to close the programs running in the background. When you have many apps running at the same time, they may interfere with each other and cause random system bugs. For example, some users reported that they were able to fix the copy-and-paste feature after they turned off or restarted their video players or graphics design software.

1. Right-click the Start button on your taskbar, then click Task Manager.
   
2. Under the Processes tab, right-click the process you want to end, then click End task.
   

If this fix didn’t help, try the next fix.

Fix 2: Repair corrupted system files

Broken Window Registry files may cause problems with the copy-and-paste keyboard shortcut. You can try to run the System File Checker (sfc /scannow) to identify problematic Registry files. Most of the time, this tool can fix minor issues for you.

But if the System File Checker doesn’t work, you may need a more powerful tool to look into your system issues and repair broken system files.

Fortect is a professional system repair software that can diagnose Windows problems and fix corrupted system files without affecting your personal data. It specializes in fixing broken Registry files with a large up-to-date database as the repair source.

1. Download and install Fortect.
2. Open Fortect and click Yes to run a free scan of your PC.
   
3. Fortect will scan your computer thoroughly. This may take a few minutes.
   
4. Once done, you’ll see a detailed report of all the issues on your PC. To fix them automatically, click START REPAIR. This requires you to purchase the full version. But don’t worry. If Fortect doesn’t solve the issue, you can request a refund within 60 days.
   

Fix 3: Clear clipboard history

When your clipboard cache is full, you may not be able to copy-paste your files or texts. You can delete your clipboard history data to see if it solves the problem, and the steps are easy. Here’s how

1. Press the Windows logo key and V on your keyboard to open the clipboard.
2. Click Clear all to delete the clipboard history.
   

If this fix didn’t help, try the next one.

Fix 4: Restart the Windows Explorer process

If the copy-paste bug occurs mostly when you’re sorting and moving your files, then the problem is likely caused by the Windows Explorer process. You can restart this process in Task Manager, here’s how:

1. Press Ctrl, and Shift and Esc on your keyboard to open Task Manager.
2. Under the Process tab, find Windows Explorer, right-click and restart the process.
   

If your problem persists, try the next fix.

Fix 5: Restart RDP Clipboard Monitor

RDP Clipboard Monitor allows the user to share the clipboard between the local and the remote desktop. If this process is not functioning as it’s supposed to, you may encounter a copy-paste problem when you’re using a remote desktop. To fix this, you may need to restart the RDP Clipboard Monitor process:

1. Press Ctrl and Shift and Esc on your keyboard to open Task Manager.
2. Find the RDP Clipboard Monitor process, right-click it and then click Restart.
   

Bonus tip: Update your device drivers

In general, keeping your device drivers up-to-date can help prevent and solve many random computer issues.

There are two ways to keep your drivers up-to-date. One is to update the drivers via Device Manager. You may have to manually check every device and update them when Windows detects available updates.

Automatic driver update – If you don’t have the time, patience, or computer skills to update your drivers manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy. Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for your PC and your Windows version, and it will download and install the drivers correctly:

1) Download and install Driver Easy.

2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

3) For example, I want to update my graphics and network adapter driver here. Click the Update button next to the flagged drivers to automatically download the correct version. Then you can manually install them (you can do this with the FREE version).

Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money-back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)

Hopefully, this article helps! Please feel free to leave us a comment if you have any questions or suggestions.

• windows 11