Copy of SQL data in Microsoft Remote Desktop (Mac) client results in hanging applications when pasting

Question

When connecting to a SQL server platform with Microsoft Remote Desktop (Mac) you can copy data and paste this in for instance Excel on the mac.

When copying "SQL server" Query's from the screen (lets say a stored procedure) it works fine.

However when copying data from a table and pasting this in Excel, Excel (on the Mac) hangs. This problem is not limited to Excel. For instance if I paste the same data from a table into Safari or Texteditor it does the same.

The well known mac snowball appears and the application needs to be restarted on the mac

Workaround seems to be to reconnect the RDP session and recopy the data. However sometimes the problem remains; Very annoying! 

Please fix this. For about (I estimate) 1 1/2 year after an update of Microsoft Remote Desktop this is occuring now I think.

Answer 1

Hello Zman

I'm sorry to hear about the issue you're experiencing when copying data from a table in SQL Server and pasting it into Excel or other applications using Microsoft Remote Desktop on Mac. This does sound frustrating, and I understand the need for a resolution.

The problem you described could be related to the clipboard synchronization between the remote Windows environment and your local Mac system. Here are a few troubleshooting steps and potential solutions you can try to resolve this issue:

1.                 Update Microsoft Remote Desktop: Ensure that you are using the latest version of Microsoft Remote Desktop on your Mac. Check for any available updates in the Mac App Store or from the Microsoft Remote Desktop website.

2.                 Clipboard Settings: In the Remote Desktop Connection settings, you can adjust the clipboard settings to optimize the copy-paste functionality. Try changing the clipboard preferences between "Auto" and "Text" in the Remote Desktop settings.

3.                 Clear Clipboard Cache: Clear the clipboard cache on both the remote Windows server and your local Mac system. Sometimes, stale data in the clipboard cache can cause issues with copy-paste functionality.

4.                 Use Keyboard Shortcuts: Instead of using copy-paste commands, try using keyboard shortcuts like Command+C (copy) and Command+V (paste) to transfer data between the remote desktop session and local applications.

5.                 Check Network Connectivity: Ensure stable and reliable network connectivity between your Mac and the SQL Server platform. Slow or intermittent network connections can affect the clipboard synchronization process.