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Firefox won't copy text on webpage

  • 4 cavab
  • 2 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by pnavarro

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When I copy text on a webpage, either with the context menu (i.e., right click) or keyboard shortcut (i.e., Ctrl + C), the text does not go to the clipboard and is not paste-able in other documents. W.T.F.?

I very much want to use Firefox as a browser, but the number of bugs I am running into is bumming me out.

When I copy text on a webpage, either with the context menu (i.e., right click) or keyboard shortcut (i.e., Ctrl + C), the text does not go to the clipboard and is not paste-able in other documents. W.T.F.? I very much want to use Firefox as a browser, but the number of bugs I am running into is bumming me out.

All Replies (4)

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Hello

Does this happen on every webpage?

Could you try Cut. Copy, Paste from the hamburger menu?

  • Click the New Fx Menu button to show them.

Does it also not work in safe mode?

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I think the first thing we need to figure out is whether Firefox copied anything to the clipboard at all.

Is the text paste-able within Firefox? You can test by pasting to the search bar, or into a boring form like the reply box on this forum.

As bygabyga asked, does it vary from site to site?

Sites can use scripts to manage some aspects of how the clipboard works. For example, when you copy, the URL of the page might be tacked on to your selection so it appears when you paste. If you have modified a setting related to the clipboard, sites that script clipboard actions may not work correctly. You can check that here:

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button promising to be careful.

(2) In the search box above the list, type or paste CLIP and pause while the list is filtered

(3) If the dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled preference is bolded and "user set" to false, double-click it to restore the default value of true

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You can also try the alternatives in case the Ctrl variants are blocked.

  • Copy: Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert (Mac: Command + C)
  • Paste: Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert (Mac: Command + V)
  • Cut: Ctrl+X or Shift+Delete (Mac: Command + X)
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It's not exactly that these comments weren't helpful, but rather that the problem is now not occurring (day after, didn't reboot my computer).

I am perplexed.