Copy and Paste suddenly not working

tpollack40
edited 13 days ago
Hi all,
I noticed this morning that the copy and paste options from the desktop app of Zotero no longer seems to work. When I try to copy anything directly from my library (under the Edit menu), nothing happens. I can still use the "insert footnote" in Word, but not a direct copy and paste from Zotero. It was working last night, but nothing I've tried this morning has solved the problem.

Does anyone know of a solution?
Thanks,
Tim
  • tpollack40
    And maybe this is just something wrong with the copy and paste function with no connection to Chicago style. But I can't seem to copy and paste anything directly from my library. Those options under the Edit menu don't seem to be working.
  • dstillman
    edited 13 days ago
    Which exact style do you have selected?

    Have you tried just restarting Zotero?
  • tpollack40
    Yes, I've restarted several times, both Zotero and my laptop. And as I just updated my original post: the problem doesn't seem to be with the style; it's something with the copy and paste function. I can't seem to copy any references directly from my library in Zotero. This is a problem only on the desktop app (although I don't think there is really a copy and paste version from the web version).
    Thanks,
    Tim
  • dstillman
    edited 13 days ago
    But copying involves a citation style — you can't have a reference otherwise. Please check what style you have selected for Quick Copy in the Export pane of the settings.

    Can you also provide a Debug ID for reproducing this?
  • dstillman
    Also, does this happen for any item? E.g., if you just create an empty item with a title, does it still happen? Or does it only happen for items with specific fields?
  • tpollack40
    Yes, it happens for all items. And switching styles doesn't seem to change anything. I am not sure that following the directions for the generating the Debug ID is going to produce a meaningful code, but restaring with logging on gave me D2034598087.

    Basically, when I try to use "copy" or ctrl+shift+c in edit for any item in the library, nothing is being copied.
  • tpollack40
    This is what I was trying to do (I hope the screen shot comes through): https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u1755470/lnc7xcsxtyrms3b1zht9.png
  • dstillman
    Switching to a non-Chicago style as well?
  • tpollack40
    Yes, I have tried a couple of different output styles and when I try to hit copy, nothing is being copied. Again, using insert footnote or bibliography in Word works as before. But copying and pasting from Zotero does not.
  • dstillman
    What if you switch to APA and then restart Zotero?
  • dstillman
    (And to be clear, if you try to use Quick Copy immediately during Zotero startup, there could be a delay before it works, so you’ll want to wait for the initial loading and syncing when testing this.)
  • tpollack40
    Doesn't seem to make any difference. Still nothing is added to the clipboard, regardless of the citation format I select.
  • tpollack40
    Never mind: figured out the problem. This was helpful: https://www.zotero.org/support/creating_bibliographies#quick_copy
  • dstillman
    Right, those are the settings I mentioned above. There was an upstream change to Chicago styles that's breaking this for some people. We're working on a fix, but in the meantime reselecting a style would've fixed it.
  • tpollack40
    Yes, so the Chicago update was the culprit after all. I wasn't looking in the right place for Quick Copy. I was looking in the settings for "cite" rather than "export." Thanks for your help. Glad it was a simple fix in the end.
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