Troubleshoot restricting cut, copy, and paste between applications

The cut, copy, and paste feature is commonly used to transfer data between applications (apps). Restricting this feature may not work as expected. To troubleshoot these issues, first ensure that the issues and configurations discussed in the Troubleshooting data transfer between apps document are addressed.

When reviewing Intune app protection policy (APP) settings in the Intune admin center, refer to the following table to make sure the desired settings are applied.

Setting name	Setting value	Use case
Restrict cut, copy, and paste between other apps	Blocked	Block copy and paste function to and from all managed apps.
	Policy managed apps	Allow copy and paste between managed apps only. Block copy and paste from managed to unmanaged apps. Block copy and paste from unmanaged to managed apps.
	Policy managed apps with paste in	Allow copy and paste between all managed apps. Allow copy and paste from unmanaged to managed apps. Block copy and paste from managed to unmanaged apps.
	Any app	Doesn't restrict copy and paste between any apps, managed or unmanaged.
Cut and copy character limit for any app	Integer (0 - 65535)	Specify the maximum characters allowed for cut, copy, and paste with managed apps. This setting works as an exception when the operations are blocked by the Restrict cut, copy, and paste between other apps setting.

Common cut, copy, and paste restriction scenarios

This section provides troubleshooting suggestions for common scenarios where cut, copy, and paste restrictions don't work as expected.

Users can copy and paste texts from managed to unmanaged apps

Scenario: Users copy text from managed apps, such as Outlook, and try to paste it into unmanaged apps, such as Google Chrome. The pasting function should be blocked, however, the users are able to paste the text into unmanaged apps.

Action: Check the Restrict cut, copy, and paste between other apps setting in both the Intune admin center and the device using Microsoft Edge. It's possible that the setting is set to Any app. With this setting, pasting to other apps is always allowed.

• If you use the Policy managed apps setting, then:

  • Copying and/or pasting text between managed apps is allowed.

  • Copying and/or pasting text between managed and unmanaged apps is restricted.

• If you use the Policy managed apps with paste in setting, then:

  • Copying and/or pasting texts between managed apps is allowed.

  • Copying and/or pasting from unmanaged apps to managed apps is allowed.

  • Copying and/or pasting texts from managed apps to unmanaged apps is restricted.

Users can't copy and paste texts between managed apps

Scenario: Users copy text from managed apps, such as Outlook, and try to paste it into managed apps, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. The pasting function should be allowed, however, users find they can't paste the text into managed apps.

Action: Check the Restrict cut, copy, and paste between other apps setting in both the Intune admin center and the device using Microsoft Edge. It's possible that the setting is set to Blocked.

Also, when copying and pasting text from one managed app to another, make sure the document you're pasting into is opened from a managed location, such as OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online. App protection policies don't apply to unsaved new documents.

For more information and scenarios involving APP, see Common usage scenarios in Troubleshooting app protection policy user issues.