One Note copy and paste

Question

I cannot copy and paste on my One Note document. When I use my cursor to select a section of type it will not allow me to expand the section

Answer 1

Dear @Kevin Wing,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Based on your description, I have tried my best to research it and I found that this behavior may occur in OneNote for Mac when the local app gets into a corrupted UI or cache state. Several users have reported identical symptoms such as copy/paste not working and text regions not being selectable. Here are several reasons that may cause it:

• A corrupted local OneNote cache
• A notebook stuck in partial‑sync state
• UI rendering bugs in recent Mac OS builds
• Too many notebooks open simultaneously

Therefore, you can try a few quick checks to narrow down the issue:

1.First, please try OneNote for the web via portal.office.com

If copy/paste works normally there, please use the web version as a temporary workaround while we troubleshoot the desktop app.

2.For the OneNote app on Mac:

• Quit OneNote completely using Command + Q.
• Open OneNote again using Safe Mode for OneNote, please follow this article for detailed instruction for this mode: How to use a "clean startup" to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac
• Additionally, please ensure you are using the correct shortcuts:
  • Command + C to copy
  • Command + Shift + V to paste plain text
  • You can see some helpful information about OneNote in here: Paste text only shortcut in OneNote on Windows, for Mac, and for the web

3.Also, I ran a test on my Mac using OneNote version 16.105.2, and copy/paste works normally. To make sure you’re running a clean installation, please reinstall OneNote by downloading it directly from the Microsoft website. Avoid installing it from the Mac App Store, please follow the steps below:

• Go to Applications > select Microsoft OneNote > choose Move to Trash.
• Download Office directly from Microsoft website instead.

You can see this link for more details for it: Download, install, or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 on a PC or Mac

4.If the issue still persists:

As a workaround, please try copying the content into Notepad (or any plain text editor) first, then copy it again from there into OneNote. This often bypasses formatting or rendering issues. Please consult a partially similar case as your situation: Copy & Paste From OneNote Issue

I hope this information can give you some insights and please feel free to update to me in comment section. Wish you a good day!

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Answer 2

If you are unable to copy and paste in OneNote and cannot expand the section of text using your cursor, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Check for Updates: Ensure that your OneNote application is up to date. Sometimes, bugs are fixed in newer versions.
2. Restart OneNote: Close and reopen the application to see if the issue persists.
3. Use Keyboard Shortcuts: Instead of using the mouse, try using keyboard shortcuts for copy (Ctrl + C) and paste (Ctrl + V) to see if that works.
4. Check for Application Conflicts: Sometimes, other applications running in the background can interfere with OneNote's functionality. Try closing other applications to see if that resolves the issue.
5. Reinstall OneNote: If the problem continues, consider uninstalling and then reinstalling OneNote to reset any corrupted settings.

If none of these solutions work, you may want to check Microsoft's support resources for further assistance.

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References:

• Copy-MgBetaSiteOnenoteNotebookSectionGroupSectionPageToSection