Copying multiple items and not seeing them in Office clipboard

Question

Copying multiple items and not seeing them in Office clipboard

DavidH 85

When I copy (Ctrl + C) an image a dialogue box appears saying "format not supported by Office clipboard" and the image does not appear in the Office clipboard or the Windows clipboard. However, the image is still available to paste into Word or PowerPoint.

When I copy multiple PowerPoint slides only the first shows up in the Office clipboard and the Windows clipboard, but they are all still available to paste into another PowerPoint presentation.

Does anyone know where these items are kept and still available for pasting?

Thank you

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Answer recommended by moderator

1 additional answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Chris Duong 8,320 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @DavidH,

Thank you very much for reaching out regarding the clipboard behavior you’re seeing in Office. I appreciate your patience and the clear details you shared.

1/ Short answer to your question

Office apps (like PowerPoint/Word) use an internal, delayed‑rendering clipboard and Office‑specific formats. When you copy, the data is registered in the source app’s memory (and sometimes temporary files) rather than fully materialized for the Windows/Office Clipboard panes.

That’s why you may see “format not supported by Office clipboard”, and the item doesn’t appear in the clipboard lists, yet you can still paste into Word/PowerPoint.

When copying multiple PowerPoint slides, only the first may appear in the clipboard panes, but all slides are still available to paste into another PowerPoint because they’re packaged in an Office‑specific format that PowerPoint understands.

2/ Recommended ways to work with this content

Here are my recommendations, which I hope will be helpful to you.

Please follow the steps below:

For images

Use Home > Paste > Paste Special… > Picture (PNG) to produce a clipboard-friendly image.
Or use Copy as Picture… (PowerPoint/Excel) for a standard PNG/EMF.
For captures, Snipping Tool or Print Screen often shows properly in clipboard history.

For multiple PowerPoint slides

Prefer Home > New Slide > Reuse Slides (If applicable), or drag & drop slide thumbnails between two open decks.
If you must copy/paste, smaller batches may display more predictably in the clipboard panes.

Pasting into non‑Office apps

First save/export the content to a standard format (e.g., right‑click image > Save as Picture (PNG), or File > Export), then insert into the target app.

Notes:

Win + V to enable Clipboard history (shows common types), though Office‑private items may still not appear there.
Keep the source file open until you paste. If behavior persists, try updating Office, clearing the Office Clipboard pane, or restarting the app.

I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to reach out.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Follow the steps in our documentation to enable email notifications if you want to receive email notifications related to this topic.

DavidH 85 Reputation points

2026-03-21T01:53:31.4233333+00:00

Good evening Chris,

Thank you for your response and suggestions.

What I am attempting is to copy multiple PowerPoint slides and paste them into a Word table. No matter what I try only the first slide is pasted (experimenting with two or three slides). There is no difficulty pasting those multiple slides into another PowerPoint presentation, but when I copy to Word only the first slide shows up in the Word clipboard and is pasted. When I access the Windows clipboard (Win+V) only the first slide shows.

I know how to export the slides to Word as a handout, but then the slides become objects and I am unable to resize them. However, with copy and paste into Word I can then resize the slides.

I will just continue to do them one by one, unless there is another way to copy and paste multiple PowerPoint slides into Word.
Thank you and take care.
Chris Duong 8,320 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-23T18:58:48.9766667+00:00
Hi @DavidH,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I appreciate the details you shared.

You’re running into a limitation in how Word consumes a multi‑slide copy from PowerPoint: when several slides are copied at once, PowerPoint places them on the clipboard as an Office‑specific package that PowerPoint can fully interpret, but Word only takes the first slide from that package. That’s why you can paste all slides into PowerPoint, yet in Word (and Windows clipboard history) only the first one appears.

Below are two practical ways to get multiple slides into a Word table while keeping them easily resizable:

Option A - Export slides as pictures, then insert them all at once (most predictable)

1/ PowerPoint: File > Save As (or Export) > choose PNG (or JPG) > when prompted, choose All Slides.
This creates one image per slide.

2/ Word: Insert > Pictures > This Device… > select all the exported images (multi‑select).
Word will insert them in order.

3/ Put them into a table:

Insert your table first (e.g., 1 column × N rows), place the cursor in the first cell, then insert the images; they’ll flow cell by cell; or

Insert images first, then cut/paste each into the desired table cell.

4/ Resize quickly: Select one image > on Picture Format > Size, set a target Width (Word keeps aspect ratio).
To resize all at once: press Ctrl+H, in Find what enter ^g (graphics), click Find In > Main Document to select all pictures, then set the Width on Picture Format > Size.

Each slide is a standard picture you can freely resize and position.

Option B - “Send to Word” as pictures (avoid linked objects)

If you prefer the built‑in handout route:

1/ PowerPoint: File > Export > Create Handouts (or Send to Microsoft Word).

2/ In the dialog, pick your preferred layout, and most importantly choose Paste (not Paste link).

Paste = inserts static pictures > you can resize them in Word.

Paste link = embeds OLE objects > resizing behaves like embedded slides and can be restrictive.

3/ In Word, if needed, right‑click a picture > Wrap Text > In Line with Text (or Square) and adjust size.
You can use the same select‑all pictures (^g) trick to resize them consistently.

For additional information, you can refer to this article: Drop PowerPoint slides into Word documents - Office Watch

Please note that this information is being provided by the moderator solely for your convenience. The referenced sites are not managed or overseen by the moderator, and therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy, security, or suitability of any software or content available there. We recommend reviewing all information carefully and ensuring you understand any associated risks before following suggestions from the provided link.

Option C - Submit feedback to Microsoft

As a forum moderator, I hope you understand that I don’t have the ability to modify or escalate product issues directly. However, I strongly recommend submitting your feedback through the Word · Community. This is the most effective way to ensure your voice reaches the product team and can be considered for future improvements.

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.

If you are unable to submit feedback from your side, please let me know and I will be happy to submit it on your behalf.

I hope this helps. If there’s anything else you’d like me to check or clarify, please feel free to reach out.

Answer 2

Those items are being held in application‑specific clipboards, not in the Office Clipboard task pane or the Windows clipboard history.

From the provided information:

The Office Clipboard task pane can store up to 24 items, but it only shows formats it supports. If a copied item’s format is “not supported by Office Clipboard,” it will not appear in that pane even though it can still be pasted in the originating Office app.
Similarly, Windows clipboard history supports only certain formats (Text, HTML, Bitmap) and has size limits; unsupported or large items may not appear in the Windows clipboard history list, but the active application can still paste them because it retains its own internal copy of what was just copied.

In practice this means:

When copying an image that shows “format not supported by Office clipboard,” Word or PowerPoint keeps its own internal copy of that image, so it can still be pasted in that app, even though it is not visible in the Office Clipboard pane or Windows clipboard history.
When copying multiple PowerPoint slides, PowerPoint maintains its own internal buffer of those slides for pasting into another presentation, even if only the first (or none) appears in the Office Clipboard or Windows clipboard history.

So the items are stored in the internal clipboard/buffer of the Office application (for example, PowerPoint’s own copy of the slides, Word/PowerPoint’s own copy of the image), which is separate from and not fully exposed through the Office Clipboard task pane or the Windows clipboard history UI.

References:

Answer 3

Stefan Blom 338.6K MVP Volunteer Moderator

It seems to me that you answered your own question: The Windows clipboard and the Office clipboard have different capabilities, with more limitations for the Office clipboard. I am referring here to the "format not supported" message.

0 comments

Answer 4

Stefan Blom 338.6K MVP Volunteer Moderator

Copying multiple slides and pasting them appear to be supported internally in PowerPoint, only.

Workarounds include taking screen shots of multiple slides (from an appropriate view) or, obviously, copying the slides one by one. This may be time-consuming, of course.

DavidH 85 Reputation points

2026-03-27T18:31:19.84+00:00

Thank you Stefan that is exactly what I ended up doing - copying the thumbnails from Powerpoint into the clipboard to max of 20 then pasting into Word by clicking from the clipboard. Was not as bad as I thought!
Stefan Blom 338.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-27T20:55:45.08+00:00

Thank you Stefan that is exactly what I ended up doing - copying the thumbnails from Powerpoint into the clipboard to max of 20 then pasting into Word by clicking from the clipboard. Was not as bad as I thought!

I'm glad you got it sorted.

Share via

Copying multiple items and not seeing them in Office clipboard

1 additional answer

Your answer