Copying and pasting continues to be an issue for those who install the latest updates from Microsoft. Just one month after an update broke functionality in Excel, October’s release has caused the same issue.
The latest issues are caused by the KB5002934 update for Microsoft Excel, which is for Excel 2016. That version replaces KB5002665, which included a hotfix for a copy/paste bug. Despite superseding the previous update, the KB5002934 update can also prevent you from copying and pasting if a workbook contains conditional formatting.
Only a small set of Excel users should be affected by the bug, since it’s limited to Excel 2016. Newer versions of Excel do not have the issue.
The bug appears in a way that may confuse those who run into it. Rather than Excel showing an error message or making a noise, the function simply fails.
The updates to Excel ship through Windows Update, though they aren’t updates to the operating system itself. They function similarly to updates for other Microsoft apps such as Edge.
Luckily for those facing the issue, Microsoft has already fixed the bug. The company released a new build of Excel that fixes the issue. If Excel is running build 16.0.5574.1006 (or later), you should be fine.
You can check your Excel version by opening File > Account and looking under About Excel.
If for some reason you are still facing the issue, you can try these steps from Microsoft as a workaround:
- On the Home tab, select the Paste dropdown list, and then select Paste Special.
- In the Paste Special window, select one of the following options:
- Formulas
- Formulas & Number Formatting
- Values
- Values & Number Formatting
- Link
I’m glad that Microsoft fixed the problem so quickly, but it’s concerning that updates caused the same issues two months in a row.
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