Windows 11 Copy Paste Not Working? Try Top 5 Fixes Here!

User case

Why copy-paste is not working?

What should we do if Windows 11 copy-paste not working? Copy and paste is a frequently used function in computers nowadays, and it is indispensable for daily life or work. Recently, some users found that their system could not operate copy and paste after upgrading to Windows 11 even after restarting the computer. What is the reason for this?

Many things can cause the problem with copy and paste not working. It could be that the system being run is outdated, a large amount of clipboard history has not been cleared, and other running applications may be using the clipboard and interfering with your copy and paste attempts, etc. These problems can occur at any time and may seem somewhat unpredictable. Is there any way to enable the copy and paste function normally? Moving on to figure out the answer.

How to fix copy and paste not working in Windows 11

Enabling the copy and paste function normally is not a difficult task. In the following content, you will get specific steps for top 5 solutions to fix Ctrl c not working in Windows 11 issue. Try them one by one and you will find the one that suits you most. Also, at the end of the article, you get a bonus tip to quickly transfer large files to other location.

• #1. Update Windows system
• #2. Clear clipboard data
• #3. Troubleshoot keyboard
• #4. Restart RDP Clipboard Monitor
• #5. Restart File Explorer
• Copy files to any location with best file transfer tool

#1. Update Windows system

Updating Windows systems often brings overall system improvements and fixes for known bugs. Therefore, checking if there are updated versions of Windows and installing it may be able to fix the glitch of the clipboard not working problem.

1. Open Start and click on Settings, select Windows Update.

2. From the right panel, click on Check for updates. Proceed to install all the critical updates and restart your PC to check if copy and paste works fine.

#2. Clear clipboard data

If you have too much history in your clipboard and do not clear it on time, then a malfunction may occur that affects the normal use of the clipboard. There are 2 ways for you to clear clipboard data. You can choose either one of them.

✌ Way 1.

1. Press Windows+I to open Settings, then select System.

2. From the right list, scroll down and then select Clipboard. Under Clear clipboard data, click Clear to delete the clipboard cache.

✌ Way 2

1. In the Windows search box, type cmd and select Run as administrator.

2. In the Command Prompt window, type cmd/c "echo off | clip" and press Enter to delete the clipboard cache.

Test the copy-paste function to see if it works properly.

#3. Troubleshoot keyboard

The problem with copy and paste not working can also be due to a faulty keyboard device causing Ctrl C and Ctrl V to not work properly, in which case you should run the built-in troubleshooter.

1. Press Windows+I to open Settings, then select System.

2. From the right list, scroll down and then select Troubleshoot＞Other troubleshooters.

3. Now, locate the Keyboard troubleshooter, and click on the Run button next to it.

After the process is completed, check if the keyboard is working properly now.

#4. Restart RDP Clipboard Monitor

If the clipboard in RDP session unexpectedly stops working, then properly ending the current RDP session (logout) and reconnecting will definitely solve the problem. Follow the steps below to restore the correct clipboard operation in the RDP session.

1. Right-click the Windows Start button, select Task Manager from the list and open it.

2. Find the RDP Clipboard Monitor process, right-click it and then click End task.

3.  Go to File > Run new task. Type rdpclip.exe in the dialogue box and press Enter. It will re-initiate the process.

#5. Restart Windows Explorer

You can try to restart Windows Explorer, restarting it is equivalent to restarting the clipboard function, which can also solve the situation of the clipboard failure.

1. Right-click the Windows Start button, select Task Manager from the list and open it.

2. Go to the Processes tab, locate the Windows Explorer process and right-click on it. Next, choose Restart from the context menu.

Copy files to any location with best file transfer tool

If you encounter copy-paste not working in Windows 11, you can follow the solutions presented above to fix the issue properly and make the feature back to normal use. This can be an easy thing to fix.

But if you can't troubleshoot because of an urgent work process or you want to quickly copy and paste large files to other locations (you need to know that this is slow in Windows), then you’d better rely on a fast file transfer tool and AOMEI Backupper Standard can be your best choice. You can learn some of its significant benefits below:

✦ 4 sync types: You are allowed to perform Basic Sync, Mirror Sync, Real-time sync, Two-way sync. You can upgrade to advanced edition to enjoy the last 3 types.
✦ Schedule sync: It allows you to automatically sync your files, and you can set the fixed frequencies as Daily/Weekly/Monthly.
✦ Support various locations: You can synchronize files from PC to external hard drives, USB flash drives, NAS devices, or cloud drives and vice versa. You can also transfer files from external hard drive to PC on Windows 11.
✦ High compatibility: All Windows PC operating systems are supported, for example, Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP.

Follow the graphic tutorial below to copy and paste local files in Windows 11 to other locations via AOMEI Backupper. Please download the free file sync software on your PC first to have a try.

Step 1. Click Basic Sync under the Sync option.

Step 2. You can change the Task Name to distinguish it from other sync task. Click Add Folder to select the files and folders that you want to move to your desired place. You can click the plus icon to add more folders to sync at the same time.

Step 3. Select the target directory to store the files. If you want to transfer files from external hard drive to PC, connect a removable device first.

🌟 You can customize your settings:

• Options: You can write comments for your task and set an email notification.
• Schedule Sync: You can enable scheduled sync at a frequency for daily, weekly, monthly. Or you can also choose Event triggers and USB plug in if you upgrade to the Professional version.

Step 4. Confirm your settings and then click Start Sync to perform the operation.

Sum it up

That’s all about how you can fix the Windows 11 copy-paste not working issue in 5 solutions with just several steps. If you prefer a faster and more effective way to copy and paste files, then it is strongly recommended you try the best file transfer tool - AOMEI Backupper, which will spare you from being annoyed by the unavailability of Windows 11 copy and paste, and help you quickly paste large files you want to copy to the specified location.

Moreover, AOMEI Backupper could be the best Synology backup software, you can backup Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 files to Synology NAS with just a few clicks. There are still many useful features left for you to explore, so download and try it now!