It does not happen only in LibreOffice but also a few other applications, maybe not Firefox. Some are mentioned in the corresponding bugs somewhere:
See also Wikipedia’s Mutter and Compositing window manager articles.
I have this exact problem. Running Libreoffice_calc 5.2 on a Pixelbook. Using Crostini which currently runs Debian stretch. I am trying to migrate from MS Office 365 (excel) and this kind of elementary bug is a blocking factor. I did paste special and once got the expected menu where I could choose how the thing would be copied but most of the time I get a dialog box and when I do the paste it pastes in an “image”.
I am seeing this on Windows 10 64-bit, with LO 6.3.
Once the paste fails, I can switch to Word or Wordpad (ugh), paste there, select it there, switch back to writer, and then the paste seems to work.
Has anybody created a but in libreoffice for this yet?
So to summarize as answer not hidden in the comments, this appears to be a bug in the Mutter compositor’s integrated clipboard manager, which is used in Ubuntu 19.04 and other distributions. See
Update 2020-03-16T12:30+01:00:
Citing from the mutter bug:
I can confirm the problem disappears in LibreOffice when I disable
the Gnome Clipboard Indicator extension, and reappears when I re-enable
the extension.
So disabling the Gnome Clipboard Indicator extension might help some.
FYI, I’ll check Mutter, but the problem only occurs with Libreoffice apps,.
Check the launchpad and mutter bugs and you’ll see it’s not only LibreOffice.
I do not have that extension and still I have the problem on LO… what I’ve been doing is to press Ctrl+C twice every time. The thing is that LO often pastes the previous selection. This problem also happens on other apps, but is much more frequent on LO.
I have the same problem in both 19.10 and 20.04 releases. for me too the only workaround is to do the copy action twice. If i need to “cut”… well, i don’t. Copy + Copy then paste, then delete the part i needed to cut.
I have also this problems under Windows 10 and now also at LibO version 7.0.4. I have also to use a external clipboard-manager.
I had the same issue. Mutter has problems with Xorg. But it works like a charm with Wayland. So if you have copy/paste issue with Libreoffice, you can log in to your ubuntu in Wayland.
Indeed, that’s apparently why I don’t encounter it (on Fedora F31) because I use a Wayland session.
I tried turning off clipboard managers, and nothing changed. However… When I use keybd commands (CTRL-INSERT) to copy, the paste operation works every time. Same results with Calc, and Writer.
Hi
I have install wl-clipboard (available on Muon pack installer) and the problem is solved for me
Here is an explanation and way to paste.
1 - Windows 10 has a multi-entry clipboard.
2 - If you will press Windows Key + V you will open the multi-entry clipboard.
3 - There select the entry you wish to paste to Libre Office or Open Office and paste (tested with pasting plain text).
4- It should paste the exact contents of the entry you selected.
It might not be turned on by default. To turn on Clipboard History in Windows 10 or 11, click Start menu > Settings > System > Clipboard and move the slider button for Clipboard history to On.
Do not turn on Sync across devices unless you enjoy waiting.
I sense some unobvious discrepancy here…
Fedora 39
libreoffice7.6-7.6.5.2-2.x86_64 (From LO’s web site)
xfce4-session-4.18.3-2.fc39.x86_64
Is it just me or is LO’s Secondary clipboard ( etc.) a real pain in your neck? The first copy work. The second does not. The paste is still the first copy. I have to paste to Leafpad and recopy to get it to work.
Odd that it will paste to Leafpad, but other maintain the first copy. I can all I want in LO and it is still the first copy. And that includes inside LO. Why Leafpad is working, I can only fathom.
LibreOffice doesn’t have a secondary clipboard, it relies on the system clipboard. If a program like a clipboard manager doesn’t release the clipboard as it should then LibreOffice can’t use it.
Hi Earnest,
Windows has only one clipboard. You are confusing it with Linux. Linux has no “system clipboard”. The clipboards are provided by the Graphic UI (X11 typically) that you are running under.
Linux’s X11 has four clipboards. <ctrl>C>, <ctrl><x>, <ctrl><v> are referred to as the “secondary” clipboard. Mouse highlight, center click is the “primary” clipboard. This link will demonstrate all four for you.
I use both the primary and secondary clipboard constantly. Window annoys me with only one clipboard. The other two, I forget how to use them, so I don’t.
All the other programs do fine, well, with the exception of Firefox, which has it own clipboard issues.
OK. Clipboards provided by the system; not LibreOffice clipboards.
BTW please click a comment bubble, not Suggest a Solution when you are commenting.