Many face the issue of keyboard shortcut keys, especially copy/ paste keys not working properly. Using the keyboard keys, Ctrl C for copy and Ctrl V for paste is a convenient way to transfer words/ sentences/ documents from one page to another. When these important keys do not work, you must be really frustrated. The issue can be on the hardware side or the software side, whichever it may be; this post will guide you to find fixes for this problem.

CTRL+C and CTRL+V Not Working

First of all, we need to know why this issue arises. Your keyboard may be outdated or encounter an error in its driver. The problem can even be worse to spread on the hardware side; wiring can be distorted and Ctrl C, V buttons are stopped working. However, the most common reason lies in the selected properties of keyboard shortcut keys. Inadvertently you may have disabled Ctrl C Ctrl V keys or all the shortcut keys are disabled by default.

5 Fixes for the CTRL C CTRL V Not Working Issue

The can be many tryouts to find the fixes for the keyboard shortcut keys issue. Here is a list of 5 fixes with screenshots (primarily for Windows 10 users). You should try all the fixes till you find the correct one.

Method 1: Update your Keyboard

Step 1: Right-click on the ‘This PC’ and click on the ‘Manage’ option.

Step 2: From the pop-up window, click on the ‘Device Manager’. Alternatively, you can directly search for the device manager from the Windows Search Bar to get access to its location.

Step 3: Expand the ‘Keyboards’ option.

Step 4: You will see a list of your installed keyboards. HID (Human Interface Device) keyboard is the external one and the PS/2 keyboard is the PC’s original one. If you do not find these keyboards here, then select ‘Show hidden devices’ from the ‘View’ tool on the top of the window. Now, select the keyboard which has encountered Ctrl C Ctrl V problem. Right-click on it and then tap on the ‘Update driver’ option.

Step 5: Click on the ‘Browse my computer for driver software’ to update the keyboard manually. You can even search for the software automatically on the internet and device. I leave this to your choice.

Step 6: Follow the instruction and hit the ‘Next’ button.

Step 7: Choose the keyboard and again hit the ‘Next’ key.

Method 2: Uninstall your Keyboard

Step 1: Go to the ‘Device Manager’ window by following the previous method. Select the problematic keyboard, right-click on it, and choose the ‘Uninstall device’.

Step 2: Follow the instruction from Windows to successfully uninstall the keyboard. Don’t worry, the device will not be gone from your PC. You just have to restart the PC to restore the uninstalled keyboard as before.

Method 3: Enable Shortcut Keys

Step 1: Go to the Windows Search bar to find the ‘Run’ menu. Alternatively, you can press the ‘Windows + R’ keys together. Now, type in ‘cmd’ and then press the ‘OK’ button to go to the command prompt.

Step 2: Move your mouse cursor to the white bar of the command prompt window and right-click on the mouse. Select the ‘Properties’ option.

Step 3: Under the ‘Options’ tab, you will see the ‘Enable Ctrl key shortcuts’ and the ‘Use Ctrl + Shift + C/ V as Copy/ Paste’ options. right-check these two crucial options (in fact, right-check all the options). Then, hit the ‘OK’ button and close the command prompt window. This method is probably the most convenient one to fix the Ctrl C Ctrl V issue.

Method 4: Troubleshoot your Keyboard

Step 1: Go to Windows Search Bar and search for the ‘Troubleshoot settings’. Click it when you find it.

Step 2: Tap on the ‘Keyboard’ from the pop-up settings menu and select the ‘Run the troubleshooter’ button. Wait for a few minutes and the Windows will show the result. Although troubleshooting is not the most reliable tool to solve any issues, you can try it as an optional method.

Method 5: Find an Alternative Way

If all the methods described in this post do not resolve the problem, you better find an alternative way to copy/ paste documents. You have to copy manually with the use of a mouse and paste it in the command prompt window using different keys. Press the ‘Alt + Space’ key together; then press the ‘E’ key to select the edit option; and lastly, hit the ‘P’ button to paste the copied document.

Conclusion

Your keyboard’s Ctrl C Ctrl V not working issue should be resolved upon following the fixes mentioned here. You will find the solution after trying these 5 fixes one by one. However, if still, shortcut keys are not working properly, then I must say that the keyboard is severely damaged. You had better replace this one with a new keyboard. Thank you for reading the article.