Paste option not working in excel

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Microsoft Office has a Paste Special feature that may or may not be turned on automatically. If you’re not educated on what this feature is, well, it comes up whenever text is pasted into a document with options on what to do with the pasted text.

For example, you can choose to merge the text with the formatting of the document or keep the original format. It’s a neat feature to have, and we recommend all Microsoft Office users to take full advantage of it.

Now, we understand that some users are having problems with Paste Special because, for some strange reason, it has failed to show up when words have been pasted. But worry not, we know how to fix the problem, and this article you’re reading right now will explain how to get it up and running again.

  1. Via the Options menu in Microsoft Office
  2. Via Advanced activate Paste Special
  3. Open Microsoft Excel in Safe Mode

Let us talk about this in more detail.

1] Open the Options menu in Microsoft Office

Paste option not working in excel

OK, so the first thing you will want to do here, is to open the Options menu. This can be done by simply clicking on File, then navigate to Options.

2] Go to Advanced activate Paste Special

Paste option not working in excel

The next step to take after firing up the Options menu is to navigate to Advanced. From there, go to the section that says, Cut, copy, and paste, then tick the box beside the Show paste options button when content is pasted.

Hit the OK button, restart your Microsoft Office program and try again to see if the Paste Special feature works as intended.

3] Open Microsoft Excel in Safe Mode

If activating the Paste Special feature does not work, then chances are the problem may lie with the add-ons you’ve installed. The best option at this point is to open your Microsoft Office program in Safe Mode to attempts to figure out what is going on.

We’re going to use Microsoft Word for this, but it will work for other programs in the Suite.

OK, so to get it done, please press the CTRL key, and while doing that, open Microsoft PowerPoint. From there, just wait on the software to open. Finally, check if the Paste Special feature is working as intended. If it is, then it means one of your add-ons is the root issue.

Re-enable the add-ons one after the other, and be sure to test the Paste Special feature each time an add-on has been enabled. Should it ever stop working during reactivation, then you’ll have an idea of which add-on is the primary culprit.

Read next: How to Add the Draw Tool Tab to Ribbon in Microsoft Office if it is missing.

Hope this helps.

Vamien McKalin possesses the awesome power of walking on water like a boss. He's also a person who enjoys writing about technology, comics, video games, and anything related to the geek world.

Paste option not working in excel

Microsoft Excel is a handy tool to organize all of your data and analytics. The cells are manageable in their column and row number, and you can modify them according to your style and preference. You might experience problems while pasting some numbers or data on a Microsoft Excel cell or datasheet. Microsoft Excel cannot paste the data is a common error faced by Excel users. You can't copy and paste in Excel when this appears. The problem occurs when you try to copy data from one Excel sheet to another in Windows 10 or Mac PC. This issue can be irritating and time-wasting. In this guide, we will brief you on the Excel copy paste not working properly and how to fix it with a reliable tool.

Microsoft Excel cannot paste the data

Part 1: Why Can't I Copy and Paste in Excel?

"Excel cannot paste the data" problem happens when you try to copy data from one Excel workbook and paste it onto the next. You can fix an excel document that can’t paste data without hardly lifting a finger if the issue is a little one. For example, you may have a merged cell that may not let your Excel paste the data and cause the problem, or you are inexperienced with the protocol of multiple pasting. After knowing these, you can immediately tackle the concern.

Part 2: Pre Tips to Solve Excel Copy Paste Not Working Properly

If you can't paste in Excel, you can try the following troubleshooting steps to get going:

  • The data you are pasting may not have the same cell format (Date, Text, Time, etc.) in the column, and the "Excel cannot paste data too many cell formats" problem may show up. Therefore you should try changing the cell format for the column.
  • There may not be enough columns to store the data that you are pasting. So, you need to add more columns to paste your information.

Part 3: Advanced Solutions to Fix Microsoft Excel Cannot Paste the Data

Solution 1: Restart the Excel File

Before diving into other arrangements, how about you first have a go at something straightforward. Most of the time, restarting the excel sheet will fix the problem, and you will not need to play out any high-level arrangements. Nonetheless, before shutting the Excel application, try to save your data.

Solution 2: Check the Merge Cell

You can't copy data from merged cells and paste it into an ordinary Excel Sheet. So, before you take a stab at copying the information, unmerge all cells using the following steps:

Step 1: Open the source Excel workbook and select every one of the data that you need to copy.

Step 2: Click the "Home" tab from the menu and go to Merge and Center > Unmerge Cells.

Solution 3: Disable the Macro Express Application

The "Macro Express" app can also lead to the happening of this error. It's a Windows-based application that enables you to make changes and record mouse macros. Thus, try checking the processes running in the background before copying data from Excel and closing the "Macro Express" application.

Solution 4: Use Paste Special Option

Follow the steps below to solve Microsoft Excel cannot paste the data error by using Paste special option.

Step 1: Open the Excel workbook and copy the required data from there.

Step 2: Now, open the destination sheet and right-click on any cell. Snap the "Paste Special" option and pick a dedicated setting to paste the data you copied effectively.

Use Paste Special Option

Solution 5: Ignore DDE

To ignore DDE also contributes to solve the copy and paste error. And here are the steps:

Step 1: Open Excel and from the "Files" menu, go to "Options."

Step 2: Select the "Advanced" option from the dialog box and uncheck "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)."

Step 3: Click "OK" to save your progressions, and you're good to go.

ignore DDE

Solution 6: Restart the PC in Clean Boot State

To restart your PC in Clean Boot State, observe the following procedure:

Step 1: Open the Run box and type "msconfig."

Step 2: Go to the General > Selective Startup and uncheck Load Startup Items.

Step 3: Hide all Microsoft services from the "Services" tab to disable all pointless startups and from the "Startup" tab, click "Open Task Manager."

Step 4: Disable all the startup processes in this window and return to the "System Configuration" window to save changes.

Solution 7: Start Excel in Safe Mode

A harmed add-in can limit your Excel sheet from pasting from data. In case that is the situation, you can open Microsoft Excel in Safe Mode. At the point when you dispatch Excel in Safe Mode, no extra add-ins will be loaded, and you'll have the option to paste data with next to no issue.

To launch Excel in safe Mode, press and hold the “Ctrl” key and then open the Excel Sheet. Now, try pasting data to a different Excel Sheet and see if you’re prompted with the same error or not.

Solution 8: Use XLSX Sheets Instead of XLS

If you're copying a lot of data, you might need to change to XLSX from the customary XLS sheet. The XLS sheets can only accommodate 65,000 lines. That implies if you copy data with more rows, you'll experience the "can't paste in Excel" error. In an XLSX sheet, then again, you can mount to 1 million rows.

Solution 9: Use Microsoft's Automatic Repair Utility to Clean Excel Sheets

Assuming that you constantly work with Excel workbooks and experience the error more frequently, we suggest installing theXLStylesTool. It's a tool made by Microsoft that will assist you with fixing corrupt Excel workbooks. It works to identify the damaged data in an Excel Sheet, making it simpler to clean the whole document. The "Can't paste a picture into Excel" error will be gone when such substance is eliminated.

Solution 10: Repair Excel with Tenorshare 4DDiG Data Recovery

Excel errors are unavoidable and can happen to anyone at any time. These errors can lead to the corruption of files if not dealt properly. Such a situation can be disastrous, and you may lose your precious information. So, to get back a corrupted Excel file, you need a professional data recovery tool like Tenorshare 4DDiG Data Recovery Software. It is an expert tool that is mastered in restoring corrupted Excel files in a few steps. Here's how:

  • Step 1:Select a Location
  • Install Tenorshare 4DDiG Windows Data Recovery on your PC and go to the home interface where you can pick Devices and Drive. For your situation, select the disk where you lost the Excel sheet and click "Start" to continue.

    select drive
  • Step 2:Scan Corrupted Files
  • 4DDiG will scan your chosen hard drive all around to reveal the files that have been found useful. After the scanning, you can find target files based on filter.

    make
hyperlink work by recovering the original excel file 4ddig 2
  • Step 3:Recover Excel Files
  • 4DDiG lets you preview and recover different record types, and you can choose your ideal files dependent on class, preview them, and eventually click on "Recover" to get them back from your hard drive. After you click on "Recover," select an ideal location for your Excel sheet to prevent permanent loss.

    recover corrupted excel

1. How to copy and paste in excel without changing the format?

Step 1: Copy the content to the Clipboard by pressing Ctrl + C.

Step 2: Click the cell where you wish to paste the information.

Step 3: Ensure to have selected the Paste Special option from Edit.

Step 4: Tap the Formulas radio button and press "Ok."

2. When cells are copied using Excel's copy function, what happens to the data in the copied cells?

After copying it using Excel's copy function, the data or information is still in its initial/original location.

3. How do you fix "Excel Cannot insert the sheets into the destination workbook"?

To move or copy the data to the required Excel sheet, you can choose and then utilize the Copy and Paste commands to copy it into other sheets.

4. Why can't you copy/paste images in Excel, but screenshots work?

It's hard to explain why can't you copy or paste iamges in Excel, but screenshots work. Anyway, you can follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Step 1: Go to the "Edit" tab from the menu and select "Paste Special."

Step 2: Select "Bitmap" in place of Bitmap Image Object, and it will paste precisely at the cell you have selected.

Conclusion:

The above solutions will solve the "screenshot won't paste into Excel" and "Microsoft Excel cannot paste the data" errors. But if you encountered file corruption while following these steps, you can use Tenorshare 4DDiG to get your files back. We hope this guide will help you in the best possible way.

How do I enable paste in Excel?

Click the File tab, then click Options. , and then click Excel Options or Word Options. In the Advanced category, under Cut, copy, and paste, clear or select the Show Paste Options button when content is pasted check box to hide or display the Show Paste Options button.

How do you reset the paste in Excel?

Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options. Click Advanced. Under Cut, copy, and paste, use one or both of the following procedures: To turn off Paste Options and Auto Fill Options, click to clear the Show Paste Options buttons check box.

How do I enable paste options?

The Paste Options If you don't see the button, it might be turned off. Follow these steps to turn it on..
Go to File > Options > Advanced..
In the Cut, copy, and paste section, select Show Paste Options button when content is pasted..
Select OK..