topic Re: Copy/Paste Not Working in AutoCAD Forum

Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 19:51:07 GMT

I'm having an intermittent problem where when I copy/paste in AutoCAD nothing appears in the windows clipboard like you would expect. It tends to happen when more drawings are open and I'm copy/pasting from one dwg file to another. It does not happen consistently enough to replicate, but happens often enough to be a problem. I have a counterpart that has the same version of AutoCAD as me (with imported settings from my profile) and it also happens to her, she is using windows 11, and I am using windows 10. I am using U.152.0.0 AutoCAD 2024.1.2. We are also using an AutoCAD app called "Microsoft Office Importer" that I feel could be linked to the issue. It uses the clipboard to automatically update/format text in the dwg that is linked to an excel spreadsheet located in the same directory. Thanks in advance for any help, we are at our wit's end!

Here are my notes I have taken (These were just taken for personal reference, I apologize they are not very polished):

Solutions that have worked in the past:

Open "drawing sheet index" and "bill of materials" then insert block. Will give error message asking if you want to restart audocad, cancel that. Then it should work.
Ctrl-v, select random object in destination file, then paste it in same file. Then ctrl-shift-v from source, paste in destination file.

Also try this copy in the source file it sometimes works

Close all office documents, fill clipboard, then try again

Things to keep in mind and things that haven't worked:

If closing the file and reopening it doesn't fix it. try running an "Audit" ("Y" to fix errors) then "Purge" command to clear everything extra out. If that still doesn't fix it try a "WBLOCK" command.
Ctrl C / V are windows shortcut commands not autocad's, so I always look at it as problem with windows interfacing with Autocad. maybe too much clutter in the file or to big of a file size.

Situations in which it happens:

Many files open and just copybase from one file to another
Recently had copy and pasted some text from one note. After this when I try to copybase from within autocad it still pastes the same text into autocad. (thinking this is the same thing as when nothing pastes, there just happens to be something in the clipboard in this scenario)

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

paullimapa — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 20:47:51 GMT

Since you are suspicious about the cause being "Microsoft Office Importer" just disable this and see if the problem goes away

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 21:48:37 GMT

Thanks! I uninstalled the app, and the problem went away with it. So now it's safe to say this is most likely caused by the app .

I still need to use the app, as the program is currently built into our workflow. Is there a way from within AutoCAD to enable/disable apps easily? installing/uninstalling from within windows when I need to use it is too cumbersome to be an option.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

paullimapa — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 22:33:45 GMT

Glad you narrowed down to confirm that "Microsoft Office Importer" is causing the issue.

You should contact the developer to see if there's an option to temporarily disable it and then re-enable it instead of uninstalling.

Now if it's an exe file that's running then you can try using Windows taskkill.exe to terminate the application from within AutoCAD. Then you'll just have to start "Microsoft Office Importer" again when you're ready.

For example if you want to end the Notepad program that's running while you're in AutoCAD enter this at the command prompt:

(Startapp "taskkill /F /T /IM notepad.exe")

To find out what "Microsoft Office Importer" exe is called launch Taskmanager, select Process tab and then scroll down the list to see if you can find "Microsoft Office Importer". Then right mouse click and select Properties. Under the General tab it'll show the name of the exe file. On the same tab will show you the Location where the exe file is stored for you to launch it again. So to start Notepad again from inside AutoCAD enter this at the command prompt:

(Startapp "notepad.exe")

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 23:08:20 GMT

Thanks! Is there a way to by default have this app stopped, but if I need to run it then I can enable it with the "startapp" command?

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

paullimapa — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 23:11:43 GMT

Assuming that "Microsoft Office Importer" program automatically starts when you start Windows then you can disable it from running at startup in Task Manager. Follow the instructions here:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-11/how-to-disable-startup-programs-in-windows-11-3-ways/m-p/3249863

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 23:23:48 GMT

It is not in my startup programs in windows (I'm still trying to find out what the app is called in task manager)

I'm hoping to be able to leave it enabled during normal operation, and if it causes problems, then disable it without having to restart AutoCAD.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

paullimapa — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 23:26:46 GMT

Again my recommendation as in my previous post is to contact the developer. Let them know the issue that their app causes so that they can come up with a solution.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

rick_sewell — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 13:25:58 GMT

Hi Joel,

You can deactivate the license.

Settings | Help | Manage License | Deactivate

You can then go right back in and activate it when you're ready to use it.

PS: We haven't had anyone else report the issue, but the issue was reproduced with your files. As elusive as the issue is, it seems clear there is something to fix.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

cadffm — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 14:24:13 GMT

@joelmNKB6B 😊

I was kind enough to write to support, above you can see the answer (Rick) including the workaround you asked for (not tested by me)

thx2Rick

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 23:08:19 GMT

Thanks all,

I have been in contact with their support for months and they have been super helpful, but we were never able to pinpoint why this is happening. I have tried disabling the license - this did work, but there were incessant pop-ups telling me to activate the license which was worse than the original problem. If I could find a way to disable the pop-ups then this would be a workable solution.

A workaround solution such as having the app disabled by default, but being able to easily enable it when needed would also work. Thanks everyone for your help so far!

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

rick_sewell — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 14:27:25 GMT

Hey Joel,

We have an update. The programmer working on your issue was not able reproduce the issue you reported. However, he did produce something similar that is in the same ballpark. He is going to fix that issue there and then provide a new build of the product to see if it also solves your issue. I expect this will get to you very soon.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 14:52:13 GMT

Fantastic! I will look forward to trying this new build. Thanks for all your help so far!

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

bela47YAJ — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 02:40:04 GMT

Yes, here's a simple trick to quickly turn Microsoft Office Importer off and on: Look for the file * (probably C:\program files) \Autodesk\Autodesk Design Review.dll (I like to find it most with the Everything program) and delete the last "l". You have thus disabled its execution and Copy Paste in AutoCAD will work without error. If you still need this application in other products, just restore the original dll extension to Autodesk Design Review.dl.

Another note: If nothing happens after Ctrl+C and CTRL+V, the copying is probably done, only the copy got somewhere under other layers and is hidden. In that case, copy it to the empty space where there are no other objects and drag it where it needs to be with the move command.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

joelmNKB6B — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:38:50 GMT

Thanks! I did end up finding that if I disabled "auto updating" it fixed the problem, so I usually only have "auto update" on only when I'm publishing drawings, and this updates all the BOMs on each sheet. This also helps open drawings faster since each time the drawing is opened the BOM is not being updated.

Re: Copy/Paste Not Working

Nate_Hanes — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 19:34:28 GMT

Hey Rick, I just wanted to add onto @joelmNKB6B 's posts to mention that the entire Electrical Design CAD team at my company experiences this same issue. Is there a way to quickly disable Microsoft Importer without a restart or closing AutoCAD yet? I would love to solve this issue as we have narrowed the problem down to drawings that have linked tables using Microsoft Importer. Disabling the software temporarily during times when it breaks Copy functions would save countless hours of reboots and reopens.

The issue seems sporadic, but it can be replicated rather quickly if in a drawing that uses Microsoft Importer to link Excel Spreadsheets on multiple sheets with multiple drawings open of the same type.

Please help us get back to the days where copy and paste was reliable and consistent. It impacts the product use and overall experience greatly.

Thanks for your help!!

edit: to add more description of the exact issue:

Copy is the only function broken and it is only while within AutoCAD. For instance, you can copy text from any other program (Notepad) and paste it into an AutoCAD drawing or anywhere else. Copying any items from AutoCAD will yield absolutely nothing in the clipboard. Clearing clipboard history does not solve the issue. Neither does clearing cache, temp files, disabling and reenabling Windows Clipboard, etc. I cannot find a single way to reenable the Copy function without restarting the computer.

Now, we are resorting to @joelmNKB6B 's method of disabling the auto-update features until Publishing/Plotting. I am optimistic that this will prevent it from happening, but I would still love a way to solve the issue without having to disable key functions of the app. Thanks again!

Update: Disabling the auto-update features of Microsoft Importer does not prevent the issue.