25H2 Copy/paste works at first, then stops

[Pedro Muller]

When booting up the VM, everything works normally. After using the feature for a while-copying from the VM and pasting to the Host-the paste function on the Host stops working. In my case, only the copy-from-VM / paste-to-Host direction fails. Conversely, copying on the Host and pasting into the VM continues to work fine.

I've tried resolving it the following ways, all without success:

1. Restarting the VM.
2. Pausing and resuming the VM.
3. Copying, then clicking the device bar before going to the Host to paste.
4. Copying and using shortcuts like Ctrl + G and Ctrl + Alt instead of the mouse.
5. Restarting the vmtoolsd.exe process.
6. Restarting the VMware Tools Service.
7. Uninstalling and reinstalling VMware Tools.
8. Updating VMware Tools to the latest version (13.0.5).

The only thing that works is shutting down the VM and restarting the Host. Copy/paste comes back, but it stops working again shortly after.

Additional Information:

• Product: VMware Workstation Pro 25H2
• Host OS: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit (10.0.26200 Build 26200.6901)
• VM OS: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit (10.0.26200 Build 26200.7462)
• Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI is disabled.

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

I'm facing still the same issue and reported it few months ago.

A resolution is outstanding.

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[Henri Jat]

Same issue for me , last VmWare pro version and Windows 11 IoT Enterprise

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[Step Joint]

Same here 

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[Pedro Henrique]

I did some testing, and it looks like I had enabled the Windows 11 clipboard history. I disabled it and restarted the VM. It seems to have fixed the issue. Disable it to test.

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

Unfortunately, this tip didn't solve the problem. Or rather, "Clipboard history" hadn't been activated before.

Well, then I followed your approach in meet the issue. I enabled the  "Clipboard history" and restarted the host, then I disabled the  "Clipboard history" and restarted the host again. The problem still persists.

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[Pedro Henrique]

Hello everyone.

I was having the same problem, copying text from the VM to the Host. I use Windows 11 as both Host and VM. At first I noticed that when it stopped working, I just had to put the VM to run in the background, close VMware and open it again, which temporarily resolved it. Along with this, sometimes a monitor error message would appear:

"The virtual machine could not be changed to the selected monitor layout. If you just added a monitor to the host computer, you must power off and power on the virtual machine to use that monitor."

When trying to resolve the monitor issue, it seems the copy and paste problem stopped. The VM was using Vulkan, so I changed the .vmx file and added the lines:

mks.enableVulkan = "FALSE"
mks.enableDX11 = "TRUE"

I also configured the Display, unchecked "Use Host setting for monitors" to "Specify monitor settings"

What does the monitor have to do with copy and paste? I confess I don't know. But it's working, I've been using it for hours and hours and my copy and paste is working correctly.

Give it a try, if anyone finds any solution please let us know.

Thanks

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

It worked for me for a while then it went back to the failure picture. 😒

Seems to be some kind of banana software – it ripens at the customer side. 🤔

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[Samuel Domingos Maganeti Lazarin]

I solved the problem including manually the following instructions on .vmx file:

isolation.tools.copy.disable = "FALSE"
isolation.tools.paste.disable = "FALSE"
isolation.tools.dnd.disable = "FALSE"
isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "FALSE"

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

Sounds promising to me. my VM runs longer than before and the COPY/PASTE function is still working. 😐
To my shame, I must confess that I have already used the same properties, but probably hadn't waited for the VMware tools to start. 😞

The tests will continue.

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

Just an update about the promised test. After few hours the problem went back.

Steps I performed:

1. All 4 properties added.
2. Worked for a while by using also COPY/PASTE, all good.
3. I left the VM untouched. no actions were e performed.
4. After few hours startet next test case for COPY/PASTE.
5. Problem is back

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

My 5 cents from todays test case:

The behavior of copy/paste after installing various properties is twofold:

1.  Copy/paste works perfectly when copying text from the host to the VM.
2. Copy/paste works perfectly, albeit only briefly, when copying text from a VM to the host.

If you focus solely on the first point, you might assume that everything is working perfectly.

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[Henri Jat]

Reinstalled 17.6.2 build-24409262, seems to be working seemlessly. I'll keep you posted if it stops working.

Now it's to the developpement team to determine what breaking change they made between the two versions that made this stop working correctly.

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[Pedro Muller]

tested clipboard history and also tried those .vmx edits-the mks and isolation settings. The problem persisted.. no luck

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[Mads Mads]

Same problems here.

I've come to the conclusion that 25H2 is absolute hot garbage. A sad decline.

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[abby cyber]

Mie too  infact have tried all method gemini suggested but clipboard from vm to host stops i believe will have to revert back to version 17

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[Darian Miller]

What worked for me was to have reboots between installation steps:

• Copy/Paste does not work (Windows 10 VM, Windows 11 Host)
• Uninstall VMWare Tools using Control Panel on VM
• Reboot VM
• VMWare Workstation: Install VMWare Tools onto VM
• Reboot VM
• Copy/Paste Works

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

My performed steps:
Copy/Paste does not work (Windows 11 VM, Windows 11 Host) - but it shouldn't be matter.
Uninstall VMWare Tools using Control Panel on VM - done
Reboot VM - done - A reboot was requested from uninstall process anyway.
VMWare Workstation: Install VMWare Tools onto VM - done
Reboot VM - done - A reboot was requested from install process anyway.
Copy/Paste Works - after few hours the problem is back - the proposed solution works as a kind of mayfly.

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[Deep Ram]

I have the same issue on all my Linux and Windows VMs. I tried all the suggestions everyone mentioned here, and the problem keeps coming back after a while. I really hope Broadcom addresses this issue soon because it's extremely annoying. I can't even roll back to an older version-when I try reinstalling an older version, I get a driver error.

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

I have upgraded the VMware tools for windows to version 13.0.10-25056151.
You can confidently abstain from installing it. It doesn't resolve the problem.
The copy/paste function doesn't work right after the tool is fresh installed. Tested it 2 times (2 reboots).

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[steve ss]

Yes this issue is extremely annoying. 

Has anyone raised a case or spoken to support, on when the issue will be fixed??

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[Deep Ram]

How do we report it? 

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[Pedro Muller]

...

[Pedro Muller]

I don't think Broadcom makes that available to regular users.

I tried, but no luck. To open a case on the support site, from what I gathered, you need to upgrade your user/profile, which they call "Build." To do that, you need a Site ID associated with a corporation.

Well, I tried it without any of that by clicking the "Build your profile" button, but it won't let me move forward because my email isn't a corporate one. And if I try to open a case without doing that upgrade, it says my user doesn't have the OKTA token.

Only the chosen ones can help us now... lol

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[Technogeezer]

Even if you do have a Site ID, you can't open a support case for Workstation. In order to open a case, users must have a support entitlement - a paid support contract or subscription for a product. Broadcom stopped providing entitlements for Workstation in late 2024 when they made the product free for all use cases and stopped selling subscriptions  

This forum is the only available support avenue.

So yes "only the chosen ones" - that is, Broadcom employees that may monitor this forum - are the only ones that can open internal tickets to investigate bugs. 

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Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[Ming Cheung]

it same for me. copy and paste worked for a while, then no longer working

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[Kamil BUrczok]

I have the same issue on my Linux quest and Windows host.

 I tried all the suggestions, and the problem keeps coming back after some time, sometimes fee minutes, sometimes 2-3 hours.

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

Welcome to the real myths and legends. 😶

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[gworboys]

I'm still on v17.6.4 here.  This copy/paste problem started after installing VMware Tools v13.0.10.  I've since reverted to v13.0.5 and the problem has apparently gone again - all has been good for a couple of days now, anyway, so fingers crossed.

This seems like a regression, as I remember having such problems quite a lot in the past.

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[Kamil BUrczok]

Hi, how did you manage to install VMware tool 13.0.5? Where did you download it? Thanks 

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[Pedro Muller]

same place you download the workstation, https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/free-downloads

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[Kamil BUrczok]

Unfortunately my vm system is Linux, not Windows, but the same problem 😄  and I can't find  older vmw tools for Linux. 

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[gworboys]

According to this: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?legacyId=2073803

They expect you to use open-vm-tools, and they expect your distribution to provide appropriate installation packages.  I know this is true for my OPNsense firewall, but I don't interact with that in the same way so I'm not sure if it has copy and paste issues.

More details about open-vm-tools can be found on GitHub

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[Pedro Muller]

just realized I never tried downgrading Tools to 12.5.4. I'll give a shot later

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[HansJoachim Ballin]

Few weeks ago I downgraded the Tools to 12.5.0 without the expected result.

The problem were still present.

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[Henri Jat]

Just roll back to 17.6.2 build-24409262, trust me.

[Deep Ram]

I wish I could roll back, but I keep getting a message that one of the system drives does not match. Even after removing all the files, deleting registry entries, and so on, the issue still appears.

[RaSystemlord]

You don't need to go to a version prior to Win 11 support. 

Version 17.5.2 works just fine probably in all problem areas. It was the last original vmware-team version.

[Kamil BUrczok]

Few days ago I downgraded the VMTools to 13.0.5 on linux (quest)

The problem were still present.

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