Wierd Copy and Paste

[Guest]

I'm trying to do a copy and paste (special - values only) between 2
workbooks. I select the cells in one and click the copy button (also have
tried Ctrl-c), but when I switch to the other WB and select the arrow beside
the Paste button, the top options (Formulas, Values, etc) are grayed out. If
I select Paste Special (the bottom option), it gives me a box asking if I
want to paste the data as a Excel Worksheet Object, Picture, Bitmap, ...

If I try to paste in the same workbook (where I am copying from), the
Formulas, Values, etc. options are available.

I have each workbook open in separate Excel sessions - I assume this may be
causing the problem. But why does it do that?

 

[Mark Lincoln]

I suspect that each instance of Excel is unaware of the other, so the
Paste operation is in effect coming from an outside source.

Do you need to run the workbooks in separate instances of Excel?

 

[Gary Brown]

You are right in the fact that it is to do with Excel being opened i
seperate sessions. The target spreadsheet has no idea which applicatio
the copy has come from and therefore only offers you the paste option
you are seeing. (ie the same as if you were copying from Word to Exce


If you opened the spreadsheets from the same session and then tried t
copy and paste special you will get the result you are looking fo

 

[Guest]

Mark / Gary,

I opened both in the same session - works fine. Thanks for the replies.

I guess I have assumed when you do a copy that it puts the data in the
clipboard and therefore doesn't care where it is coming from. I'll have to
read up on exactly how the clipboard works.