If you’ve encountered the “Your organization’s data cannot be pasted here” error when trying to copy data between Microsoft Office applications, it means you don’t have the necessary permissions to paste the data into the target application. But why does this happen?
This issue is often caused by Microsoft Intune enforcing security policies that restrict data sharing between apps. Other potential reasons include using outdated software, exceeding data transfer limits, or encountering problems with the source or destination files. If you’re facing this error, here are six troubleshooting steps to help you resolve it.
How to Fix the “Your Organization’s Data Cannot Be Pasted Here” Error?
1. Check if Microsoft Intune is Blocking Copy-Pasting
Microsoft Intune may block data transfer between applications as a security measure to prevent unauthorized data sharing outside the organization. If this is the case, the policy needs to be adjusted to allow copying and pasting.
If you don’t have administrator access to Intune, you’ll need to contact your admin to make changes. The administrator should follow these steps:
- Log in to the Microsoft Intune dashboard.
- Navigate to Client Apps from the left-hand menu.
- Go to App Protection Policies.
- Select the current policy in use.
- Under Data Transfer, make sure the option to Restrict cut, copy, and paste between apps is not enabled.
- If it is, the admin can unblock it to allow data sharing.
2. Verify Your Permissions to Copy and Paste Data
Microsoft Intune allows administrators to control which data users can access and how they can use it. If you’re unable to copy and paste data, it could be due to restrictions on your account.
Check with a colleague who has a similar access level. If they can copy and paste without issue, contact your administrator to resolve the permission problem.
3. Ensure the File is Editable
Many Office applications open downloaded or emailed files in Protected View to safeguard your device. Files in Protected View are read-only, which can prevent you from editing or copying content.
To resolve this, make sure the file is editable:
- If the file is in Protected View, click on Enable Editing to allow modifications.
- Once editing is enabled, try copying and pasting the data again.
- If you frequently encounter this issue, you can also choose to disable read-only mode permanently.
4. Determine if the Issue is Specific to One File
If the file is editable and you’re still seeing the error, check whether the problem is isolated to a specific file. You can do this by creating a new document and attempting to paste the data there.
If you can paste the data into the new file, the issue may be with the original document. In this case, try moving the content to a fresh file. If the problem continues even in new documents, proceed to the next troubleshooting step.
5. Break the Data into Smaller Sections
Some Microsoft Intune policies limit the amount of data that can be copied at once. If you attempt to copy more data than the policy allows, you may encounter this error.
To address this, try copying smaller chunks of data instead of transferring everything at once. If this resolves the issue, consult your administrator to see if a copy-paste limit is in place. Administrators can adjust or remove the character limit by navigating to the Data Transfer section and updating the restrictions.
6. Try Initializing the File Before Pasting
If you’re having trouble pasting data into an empty file, initializing the document with some content first might help.
Here’s what you can do:
- Open the document you wish to paste the data into.
- Type a few characters or add any text to initialize it.
- Save the document, reopen it, and then try pasting the data.
Although less common, this method can sometimes resolve the error if the issue stems from the file being completely empty.
Conclusion
The “Your organization’s data cannot be pasted here” error is typically a result of security measures or specific settings within Microsoft Intune. By checking your permissions, ensuring files are editable, or breaking data into smaller sections, you can usually resolve the issue. If these steps don’t work, your administrator may need to adjust Intune settings to allow more flexibility for data transfer between applications.