Cannot paste from Guest Windows 7 to Host Mac

[SMXSteve]

I've been using Virtualbox on my MacBook for a few years now. I never had a problem copying from the Virtualbox guest Windows 7 applications like Word into any app on the MacBook side. Since the last two Virtualbox updates it doesn't work. Paste shows up in the dropdown on the Mac side but nothing comes from the clipboard. I have to copy the text into Notepad on the Windows guest then copy from there again to get it to work. I even have trouble copying a URL out of IE and pasting it into Safari. Seems to work fine from Mac to guest Windows.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Yes I have ran the latest updates including guest additions and Shared Clipboard is Bidirectional.

Thanks
Steve

[socratis]

For future reference, "current version", "latest version", "previous version" don't (generally speaking) provide accurate information. In a couple of months the "current" will definitely be different. It's better if you use the complete version numbers (including the build numbers) to identify software:

• "OSX" isn't enough, "OSX 10.9.5 build 13f1911" is much better.
• "Win10" isn't enough, "Win10 1607, build 14393.969" is much better.
• "Ubuntu" isn't enough, "Ubuntu 16.04, 4.4.0-59-generic #80-Ubuntu SMP" is much better.
• "The latest VirtualBox" isn't enough, "VirtualBox 5.1.22 r115126" is much better.

So, please be accurate when you're describing your installed software versions.

I never had a problem copying from the Virtualbox guest Windows 7 applications like Word into any app on the MacBook side.

Actually that's not quite true, you would have crashes if you would try to copy/paste rich text. That has been fixed in VirtualBox 5.2.2. From the changelog:

Shared clipboard: fixed hang with OS X host and Linux guest (bug #15782)

We're going to need to see a VM log from a complete VM run:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe error / Shutdown the VM.
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response (see the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form).

[SMXSteve]

I've attached the zip file

Mac OS High Sierra 10.13.2
Windows 7 Ultimate Service pack 1
VirtualBox 5.2.4

No, I have never had a copy and paste error or crash in the years I have used this and I copy and paste a lot. Microsoft Word is a rich text application and has alway worked fine as well as Outlook and many other Windows applications. Copying a URL out of the IE address bar shouldn't be rich text either.

Interestingly you just posted there was an update that affected the "Shared clipboard" in version 5.2.2 which is when I said this started happening - since the last two updates.

Steve

[socratis]

• Your logs look fine. There's nothing indicating a clipboard failure.
• You could copy only simple text until 5.2.2 when this was fixed. You wouldn't have noticed the crash, as it was internal. It says so in that bug that I linked to.
• Even now, rich text is of limited functionality.
• Try with a test VM and see if it fails. A one made from scratch.

[SMXSteve]

May take a while to create a new one from scratch. But I also have a Mac Mini with a similar install. All versions of all operating systems and software are the same as my MacBook just not identical how it is used. Can't paste and copy with it either and started at the same time, right after Virtualbox upgrade to 5.2.2

[retired user]

I too have lost the ability to copy and paste from a Word/Excel document in Windows7 & Office Professional Plus 2010 (version 14.0.7190.5000 (64bit version) running in Virtual Box (version 5.2.4 r119785 (Qt5.6.3) into Mail running on OS 10.13.2.

I couldn't copy/paste from Word into Mail on Virtual Box 5.2.2 either.

Any clues please?

[socratis]

Can you try something else other than MSOffice? Can you try different application sources/destinations? I'll start...

• Host: OSX 10.11.6.
• VirtualBox: 5.2.5 r120042 (Qt5.6.3).
• Guest: Win7 SP1, build 7601.

Works with (from GuestApp to HostApp):

• Win-Notepad to OSX-Anything, works. And back.
• Win-Firefox to OSX-Anything. Only simple text, like URLs and form data.

Pretty much that simple text works. Anything formatted, doesn't.

[retired user]

Pasting Win7 notepad to Mail worked. And pasting from Word to notepad worked so workround is a 'double' copy/paste. I'm pretty sure though that I could copy/paste rich text from Word in Virtualbox 5.1 series and earlier into MacOSX mail and I miss the facility to compose in Word and paste into Mail.

[socratis]

I'm pretty sure though that I could copy/paste rich text from Word in Virtualbox 5.1 series and earlier

I'm pretty sure that you couldn't, but could you please downgrade your VirtualBox installation and try again?

[retired user]

Thanks Socratis for your attention.

I downgraded Virtualbox to 5.1.28 and can copy/paste text from Word directly into Mail; but you are right that it isn't richtext formatted.

I hope the Oracle developers can restore that facility.

[socratis]

I'm pretty sure though that I could copy/paste rich text from Word in Virtualbox 5.1 series

but you are right that it isn't richtext formatted.

I hope the Oracle developers can restore that facility.

What restoring are you referring to? It wasn't working to begin with, and they already fixed "some" things in 5.2.2.

[retired user]

Thanks Socratis.

Copy/paste was working in Virtualbox 5.1.28 but is now not working in 5.2.x - I was hoping the geniuses at Oracle doing Virtualbox could, shall we say, reinstate (in place of restore) that functionality.

And I assume they look at this forum, so thanks folks for a great programme - I love being able to use a mac and also office (full blown).

[socratis]

Once again, I'm going to point to to what you said:

I downgraded Virtualbox to 5.1.28 and can copy/paste text from Word directly into Mail; but you are right that it isn't richtext formatted.

So, are you trying to confuse me? Or is there something that I'm not getting?

PS. That functionality was modified because it was crashing the server.

[gkholman]

I, too, used to have a bidirectional clipboard with VB5.1.x and now running VB5.2.6 the bidirectional setting is giving me only Mac (host) to W10 (guest) functionality, not W10 to Mac functionality.

The original poster's situation is not isolated to him/her. I am at a loss at times without this functionality. Can anyone point me to a thread where this is resolved? Thank you!

[socratis]

Can anyone point me to a thread where this is resolved?

You have to pay the club fee first: you need to sacrifice a black goat, or a blonde young girl, during a full moon. (Or is it a black young girl eating a blonde goat? Can't remember the details...) Sorry, couldn't resist...

You think that something like a "hidden" thread would exist? Why? Again I will repeat it for the last time:

Copy/paste works with simple, non-formatted text.
Notepad to TextEdit. And TextEdit to Notepad.
Anything more is a bonus.
Please stop beating on that old drum.