Copy and paste not working on your Mac? How to fix it

1. Check whether it's the keys or the clipboard

Select some text and choose Edit → Copy, then Edit → Paste somewhere else. If the menu works but the keys don't, the problem is a shortcut (fix 4). If neither works, the clipboard itself is stuck (fix 2).

2. Restart the pasteboard server

This fixes most cases and takes seconds. macOS starts the process again on its own, and nothing you've saved is lost.

1. 1Open Terminal from Applications → Utilities.
2. 2Type the command below and press Return.
3. 3Try copying and pasting again.

killall pboard

Prefer not to use Terminal? Open Activity Monitor, search for pboard, select it and click the ✕ button, then Force Quit.

3. Quit and reopen the app

If paste fails in only one app, that app is the problem. Quit it with ⌘Q and open it again. Some websites also block copying with scripts; try selecting the text and right-clicking, or open the page in Reader view with ⇧⌘R in Safari.

4. Check your keyboard shortcuts

Another app can claim ⌘C or ⌘V for itself. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts and remove anything using those keys. Then quit utilities that add global shortcuts, such as launchers and text expanders, one at a time to find the culprit.

5. Check Universal Clipboard

If you paste something you copied on your iPhone instead of what you just copied on your Mac, Universal Clipboard is involved. It needs the same Apple Account, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on both devices, and Allow Handoff turned on in System Settings → General → AirDrop & Handoff. Turn it off there if you'd rather keep each device's clipboard separate.

6. Look for a password field

While a password field is focused, macOS turns on Secure Input, which stops other apps from seeing or sending keystrokes. Tools that paste for you, like clipboard managers and text expanders, can't work until you leave that field. Click somewhere else, or close the sign-in window that's still open in the background.

7. Restart your Mac

If nothing above helped, restart. It clears every stuck process at once. If paste still fails after a restart, start up in safe mode to rule out login items and extensions.

If a clipboard manager can't paste

Apps like Maclip paste by pressing ⌘V for you, which macOS only allows with Accessibility access. If Maclip's panel opens but nothing lands, see the popup opens but nothing pastes. Even when pasting is stuck, everything you copied is still in your history, so nothing is lost while you fix it.

Questions