Word Plugin: Zotero could not perform this action.

lhcgeneva
I'm on MacOS 15.6.1 with Word 16.100.4 (25090553) and after upgrading to Zotero 7 today I'm getting the above error message if I'm in a new document, or Zotero experienced an error updating your document.' if I'm in a Word document that previously worked with Zotero.

I've tried the usual troubleshooting steps from here:
https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_troubleshooting
and here:
https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/debugging_broken_documents

Here's a troubleshoot ID: 1097772712

Of course I'm again a week away from a deadline...
Any help is greatly appreciated.
  • dstillman
    [JavaScript Error: "Calling -setData:forType: on NSPasteboardItem with nil `data` for type public.utf8-plain-text. @[setText:field.m:395]" {file: "resource://zotero-macword-integration/messagingGeneric.js" line: 216}]"
    Do you use any utility software that interacts with your clipboard? If so, try disabling it.
  • lhcgeneva
    I used BetterTouchTool but disabled it (never had a problem using it in parallel before). Now I have almost no login items and restarted, no other apps open other than Word and Zotero. Still not working. Can I try anything else?
  • adomasven
    Does it work if you Quit BetterTouchTool completely by right-clicking the BTT icon in the top menu bar and selecting Quit?

    Do you have any other utility software installed on your Mac that may monitor your clipboard, e.g. provide clipboard history or some other feature?
  • lhcgeneva
    I'm not even opening BTT anymore now. No, I have nothing else installed.
  • adomasven
    Does it work if you disable all login items (or create a new temporary testing user account where none are enabled) and restart?
  • dstillman
    There may still be a background service from BTT or some other tool you've used getting launched. Note that BTT includes a clipboard manager.

    We're not aware of any causes here other than something interfering with the clipboard, and, needless to say, it's very unlikely to just be a coincidence that you happened to be running a tool that includes a clipboard manager (and, therefore, are someone who presumably has installed similar software in the past).

    Login items are just one of various ways apps can run background services on macOS. You need to check for launch daemons and launch agents — both global and user-specific — as well. Testing in a new user account alone is not enough.
  • lhcgeneva
    Ok. It seems that again a proper reinstall of MS Word did the trick. I guess before I missed deleting some configuration files. Thanks!
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