Advisories
Excel Update KB5002914 Causes Silent Copy‑Paste Failures for Users
Microsoft’s latest Office security patch KB5002914, released on Patch Tuesday, has left many Excel users unable to copy, paste, or drag formulas. The glitch affects versions from 2016 to 2024, across MSI and Click‑to‑Run installations, and produces no error messages. Users can temporarily restore functionality by uninstalling the update or downgrading the Office build, while Microsoft acknowledges the issue and is working on a fix.
Microsoft’s September 2026 Patch Tuesday rolled out KB5002914, a security update for Office. Within hours, Excel users across the board reported that copy‑and‑paste and formula‑dragging stopped working. The problem shows up silently – the source remains highlighted, the destination stays unchanged, and no error message appears.
Who’s Affected?
Reports span Office 2016 through 2024, including both MSI and Click‑to‑Run installations. Users on Office LTSC Standard 2021 and other builds have seen the same symptoms.
Workarounds
- Uninstall KB5002914 from MSI‑based installations using the provided PowerShell command.
- For Click‑to‑Run, downgrade the Office build via XML or Group Policy.
- Some users temporarily replace the updated excel.exe with an older version, though this is not recommended by BleepingComputer.
Microsoft’s Response
Microsoft has acknowledged the bug and added it to the KB5002914 release notes. The company is researching the issue and promises further guidance once a fix is ready.
In Microsoft Excel 2024, 2021, 2019, and 2016, the paste operation might fail silently,
Until a patch arrives, users should consider rolling back the update or using the workarounds above to keep spreadsheets functional.
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