Copy Paste not working in WIndows 10 file explorer

Hello, Please run SFC /SCANNOW command at administrative Command Prompt and see if that helps. Hope this helps, Good luck :)

Here are a few things to try, leading up to if necessary addressing problems that might reside in the install which in WIndows 10 is what's most important: Try clearing the clipboard. If that works you can make it a Desktop shortcut to have handy: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/clear-clipboard-in-windows When it fails to copy, immediately reset Explorer: Right click Task Bar or press Ctrl+Alt+Del, open task Manager On File tab, Run New Task type explorer.exe in box, press Enter. Try using Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste, to compare difference. If these steps don't help, then go over this Checklist to make sure the install is set up correctly, optimized for best performance, and any needed repairs get done: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-performance/windows-10-performance-and-install-integrity/75529fd4-fac7-4653-893a-dd8cd4b4db00 But remember that a factory or Upgrade install are inferior installs that most enthusiasts would never run in the first place because they'd expect endless issues. Most prefer to do the gold standard Clean install from this link: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/clean-reinstall-windows-10-upgradefactory-oem/1c426bdf-79b1-4d42-be93-17378d93e587 There is also an automated Windows 10 Refresh which reinstalls Windows while leaving out the factory bloatware that throttles Windows and causes endless issues, and lets you save your files. https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-reinstall-windows-10-without-the-bloatware/ I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I'll keep working with you until this is resolved.

OK - none of your "easy" suggestions worked - I did not use your link about clearing the clipboard - if a site refuses to let me look unless I unset my adblocker then I am not interested!.

But I found lots of other ways to clear the clipboard - just created a simple Notepad file and typed a few characters and copy/pasted them. also used the command line - but still no joy.

Killed all instances of explorer from Task Manager and restarted - still no joy.

I am not going down your suggestions about this installation - this was a Windows 7 machine built from the ground up by me - and upgraded to Windows 10 early on - it has what I need and nothing else.

But I have found a way to fix this (apart from rebooting) which I find quite surprising.

I go to the other PC on my desk (which is still running WIndows 7) and I "remote desktop" to my 10 machine (I actually use TeamViewer)  From this "remote desktop" I copy/paste and it works.

Also having done this it somehow frees up 10 machine so I can go back and do it "locally"

weird!!!

Seems I spoke too soon. The "remote desktop" method worked for a while and then stopped working just like the local method ?????

I would personally go over the quality of my install. Based on my experience helping several million consumers via my Clean install tutorials since Windows 7 and another 100,000 in forums directly, these issues NEVER happen with a great install. And you only need one backed up by a System Image backup to use in place of any future reinstalls. The gold standard Clean Install is here: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-windows_install/clean-reinstall-windows-10-upgradefactory-oem/1c426bdf-79b1-4d42-be93-17378d93e587 Not one consumer who's followed it (out of several thousand a day) has reported a single issue. But for an Upgrade or Factory install one would expect endless issues since these are inferior installs that no tech enthusiast would run in the first place. Please understand I am only the messenger and be kind to volunteers only trying to help. What I would do is go over the quality of your install to know for certain it's condition. This checklist will tell you for certain: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki/windows_10-performance/windows-10-performance-and-install-integrity/75529fd4-fac7-4653-893a-dd8cd4b4db00 I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I'll keep working with you until this is resolved.

"Please run SFC /SCANNOW command at administrative Command Prompt and see if that helps."

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

Might be corrupt system files, I recommend you perform a repair upgrade. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-perform-a-repair-upgrade-using-the-windows/35160fbe-9352-4e70-9887-f40096ec3085