Microsoft Fixes Excel 2016 Copy-and-Paste Bug Caused by KB5002914

Microsoft has released a fix for Excel copy-and-paste failures introduced by the September 2026 KB5002914 security update.

The company previously confirmed that a code regression in KB5002914 caused the problem. On affected systems, users can copy cells and see the source remain selected, but Excel inserts nothing into the destination cells.

The fix currently applies only to Excel 2016

Although the issue affects Excel Online and Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016, Microsoft’s newly released fix currently targets Excel 2016.

Microsoft’s documentation says KB5002665 fixes the copy-and-paste issue. Microsoft has also released KB5002655 as a mitigation specifically for Microsoft Installer (.msi)-based versions of Office 2016.

That mitigation does not apply to Office 2016 Click-to-Run installations.

Other Excel versions still need a workaround

Users running affected Excel versions without a fix can use Paste Special instead of standard copy and paste.

To do that, open Home > Paste > Paste Special, or press Ctrl+Alt+V and choose the required paste option.

Another workaround involves uninstalling or rolling back KB5002914, which some users report restores normal copy-and-paste behavior.

However, Microsoft warns against removing the update because doing so also removes security fixes for several remote code execution and information disclosure vulnerabilities.

Microsoft is still working on a broader solution

Users running Excel 2019, 2021, 2024, Excel Online, and Office 2016 configurations not covered by the current fix may still encounter the issue.

Microsoft has not yet released a permanent fix covering every affected Excel version.

In other Excel news, Microsoft will remove Power Query as a Python data source in Excel for the web.

Excel is not the only Office app dealing with problems, as Microsoft Word may crash when third-party apps populate document templates.

Via BleepingComputer