Word for Mac error: NSPasteboardItem

dstillman Zotero Team
This discussion was created from comments split from: Zotero on Word on Mac; Update error every few citations.
  • daniel.simon
    I think I'm getting the exact same issue. I'm using Word 16.101.2 (and probably the previous version or two) and Zotero 7.0.26 on macOS 26 and 26.0.1. Just like the original poster, every few citations I get warning popup in Word that says:
    "Zotero experienced an error updating your document. Would you like to view troubleshooting instructions?"

    I managed to grab a couple logs while this happened. Unfortunately, no Debug ID. With ChatGPT's help looking at the logs, I narrowed down the issue to something with the pasteboard.

    If I get the warning popup:
    1. Click it away
    2. Delete the stalled "{Citation}" text in Word
    3. Try again with the Zotero plugin: craft/edit the selected references, but before actually trying to add them to Word (i.e., clicking Enter or the right-arrow in the plugin window)...
    4. Run "killall pboard" in the Terminal (or see below for a Shortcut solution)
    5. Now, click Enter or the right-arrow in the Zotero plugin window and the citation should work as intended.

    To make this easier for myself, I created a Shortcut with a global hotkey. This way, in step 4, I can hit my hotkey, wait for the notification, and they proceed to step 5. See the screenshot here for the recipe.
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u5349858/n48bvcnzgtrhkvtmp2or.png

    For those interested, here's the quick summary of ChatGPT's solution:
    This line, near the top of your log:
    [JavaScript Error: "Calling -setData:forType: on NSPasteboardItem with nil `data` for type public.url."
    {file: "resource://zotero-macword-integration/messagingGeneric.js" line: 216}]
    means Zotero’s Word plugin tried to send data to the macOS pasteboard, but the system clipboard daemon (pboard) handed back nil — effectively “empty”. When you ran killall pboard, macOS restarted that daemon, clearing the stale state and allowing Zotero to continue without errors.

    I have NOT tried the Zotero 8 beta, but it would be great if someone over at "Zotero HQ" could look into this.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    (Please start new threads for new issues — there's no way of knowing if the other thread is related without an error log. I've moved this to a new thread.)

    Note that you can always share a Report ID, and you can share a Debug ID if you can reproduce the problem. But if you're getting this error:
    Calling -setData:forType: on NSPasteboardItem with nil `data` for type public.url
    This is generally caused by a clipboard manager or some other tool that interacts with the clipboard (though not all clipboard managers cause it). If you're running such a tool, try disabling it.
  • daniel.simon
    Thanks for creating the new thread. I generally use the clipboard manager "Copy 'em"... but I disabled that and I'm still getting the NSPasteboardItem issue. Maybe something with macOS 26's new built-in clipboard manager? https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/search-your-clipboard-history-mchl40d5b86b/mac
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    We don't yet have any reason to think it happens due to the Tahoe clipboard manager — we'd likely be getting many more reports if that were the case. It's more likely that you haven't fully disabled Copy 'Em — make sure you've removed any Login Items, LaunchAgents, or LaunchDaemons that it installs and restarted your computer. (When people report this, they're almost always running a third-party clipboard manager, and it's never a coincidence.)
  • Karis Do
    I encounter this problem repeatedly and feel frustrated because I have to restart both Word and Zotero whenever the pop-up appears, while I keep all the windows open for long hours of writing my thesis. Not sure what happened.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    Karis Do: If you're actually getting an error about "NSPasteboardItem", the only cause we're aware of is a third-party program that interferes with the clipboard.

    If you're not seeing that error, please start a new thread.
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    @daniel.simon: OK, we have a fix for this in the latest Zotero beta. (Thanks to another report, we were able to reproduce it by copying from a Word comment box before triggering the plugin. Copying other text to the clipboard would fix it. Possible that copying from other sources would also cause it, and also possible that clipboard managers could still be involved. But this fix should work regardless.)
  • dstillman Zotero Team
    This is also now fixed in Zotero 7.0.29.
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