“Retrieving data. Wait a few seconds and try to cut or copy again”: how to fix it

What the message means

Every report of this message on Microsoft Q&A, from 2015 to 2026, involves copying from a workbook open in Excel for the web, the browser version used for files in OneDrive, SharePoint and Office.com. Instead of your cells, the clipboard briefly holds this sentence, and that’s what lands in desktop Excel, Word, an email or a chat.

Your workbook isn’t damaged and nothing has been lost; the copy simply didn’t finish. Users report it more often with formulas and with larger selections, and in a January 2026 thread a whole organization saw it at random, even in new files. Microsoft hasn’t published an explanation or a support article for this exact message.

If you found the sentence in someone else’s email or message, it means they pasted too early. Ask them to send the actual values.

Fix 1: Copy again instead of pasting again

Pressing Ctrl + V again usually pastes the same placeholder, because it’s what’s on the clipboard. Start over instead:

• Press Ctrl + Z to remove the pasted sentence.
• Go back to the Excel for the web tab, click a single cell to deselect, then select your range again.
• Copy with Ctrl + C, stay on the tab for a few seconds, then switch to where you want it and paste.

If you’re copying formulas into another app, try pasting the results as values instead. That’s a reasonable workaround given reports that plain values copy fine when formulas fail, though Microsoft hasn’t confirmed it. Copying a smaller block at a time can also help. Note that copying between workbooks in Excel for the web doesn’t support some items at all, including charts, slicers, PivotTables and named ranges, according to Microsoft.

Fix 2: Refresh the session or try another browser

Microsoft Q&A moderators have suggested these steps. None of them is confirmed as a permanent fix, but they’re quick to try:

• Reload the browser tab, or close and reopen the workbook.
• Sign out of Microsoft 365 and sign back in.
• Open the file in an InPrivate or Incognito window, which runs without most extensions.
• Try a different browser, for example Firefox if you normally use Edge or Chrome.
• Disconnect from a VPN if you’re on one, and test again.

Clearing the Windows clipboard history (press Win + V and select Clear all) was also suggested, though the person in that thread said it didn’t help.

Fix 3: Copy from the Excel desktop app instead

This is the workaround Microsoft Q&A answers recommend most often, since it takes the browser out of the copy. In Excel for the web, select Editing > Open in Desktop App at the top of the ribbon. The file opens in Excel on your PC, still saved to OneDrive or SharePoint, so your changes sync back as usual. Copy and paste from there.

If you don’t have the desktop app signed in, or you only need the data once, go to File > Create a Copy > Download a Copy and open the downloaded file. Older guides give Save As as the menu, which has since moved. Edits you make to a downloaded copy don’t sync back to the online workbook. For more on moving data around once it’s in desktop Excel, see how to move a row in Excel and our Excel tips and tricks.

Fix 4: Check the browser’s clipboard permission

Microsoft documents this fix for a related Office for the web message, No clipboard access, which appears when the browser blocks the site from using the clipboard. It isn’t documented for the Retrieving data message, but it’s worth checking if copying from Excel for the web fails in general.

• Edge: select the padlock or site information icon to the left of the address, open Permissions for this site and set Clipboard to Allow. To review all sites, paste edge://settings/content/clipboard into the address bar and remove Office.com or your SharePoint site from the Block list.
• Chrome: select the site information icon, then Site settings, and set Clipboard to Allow.

Firefox doesn’t let the ribbon’s Copy and Paste buttons use the clipboard by default, so Microsoft suggests using the keyboard shortcuts there. If copying and pasting fails in the desktop apps as well, the problem is wider than Excel for the web; see copy and paste not working in Word.

If it happens to everyone in your organization

When many people see the message at once, in files of every kind, the cause is likely on the service side rather than on individual PCs. Microsoft Q&A moderators can’t see the logs for your tenant, so a Microsoft 365 admin needs to open a service request in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Meanwhile, Fix 3 lets people keep working. If files are also slow to appear or update, check that OneDrive is syncing properly; our guide on pausing and stopping OneDrive sync shows where the sync controls are.

Related guides

• Copy and paste not working in Word: how to fix it
• Excel tips and tricks: 10 ways to work faster in Excel
• How to move a row in Excel (without overwriting data)
• How to stop OneDrive from syncing (without losing files)

Official sources

• Open in Excel for the desktop (Microsoft Support)
• Copy and paste in Office for the web (Microsoft Support)
• Troubleshoot copy and paste errors in Office for the web (Microsoft Support)