I can no longer copy HTML (cells, with formatting) from google sheets or excel into outlook.

Question

I can no longer copy HTML (cells, with formatting) from google sheets or excel into outlook.

Kate Flanigan 10

I could before, and have been doing to for years. It's a significant part of my work day. It stopped working suddenly Aug 25th, mid-afternoon with no obvious trigger. I was using both programs continuously, nothing crashed, nothing closed, just working one minute and not the next. There is no error message, or lag, or indication that the computer received any input - it just doesn't paste.

It will paste plain text, but nothing with formatting attached.

I have not lost this functionality on my personal outlook/google accounts - I can still copy and paste seamlessly, both on my personal computer and on the business computer (I have my personal accounts open in the same chrome window as the business google and outlook accounts).

I have not lost functionality on the mobile apps; my business phone can still copy and paste with no issues.

Weirdly, I can't paste cells from the business spreadsheet into my personal email, and I can't paste cells from my personal spreadsheet into my work email. It ONLY works if it's personal to personal.

I have tested every permutation of copy/paste available to me, none of them made any difference.

-ctrl-C/ctrl-V.

-Right clicking to copy and paste.

-Drop-down Menu: in sheets Edit: Copy, and in outlook Message: Paste.

-Macros to copy and paste.

I have tried (and did not work):

-Close everything and restart the computer

-Update the apps and Windows and restart the computer

-Selected "repair" on the windows app setting and restarted the computer

-Double checked all permissions for clipboard

-Reset Clipboard

-Double checked that Outlook email was formatted for HTML

-Double checked that Outlook was set to "keep source formatting"

-Tried Outlook in both the app and browser

-Switched to legacy Outlook instead of New Outlook.

-Toggled on and off the Google Docs Offline extension

-Tried switching to Excel (desktop and app)

-Tried using Chrome, Edge, and Opera

-Tried it on a coworker's laptop

I think I have exhausted the Microsoft help forums, has anyone had a similar issue and/or have ideas on what else I can try?

Charnaye 0 Reputation points

2026-08-27T18:48:25.6+00:00

Hi Kate, yes every single thing you have mentioned, down to the individual steps, has happend to me. The same date and time frame I came across this issue and I aslo took the same steps trying to resolve it. But like you said it works for Google mail, just not Outlook. Very frustrating indeed!
Kate Flanigan 10 Reputation points

2026-09-01T13:33:35.81+00:00

Copying this update to everyone who had similar issues, or was providing assistance and might be curious about the outcome before I close these threads.

According to Microsoft, the issue is on Microsoft's side. The just did a ton of updates to their data security system (Purview), and this is a bug where the new updates are incorrectly flagging the HTML as sensitive information, and blocking the copy/paste in the name of "insider risk management".

In companies with advanced business subscriptions, the global administrator has access to settings that may or may not help. However, if your organization has a business basics account, you will not have access to these settings.

Microsoft is very aware of the issue, they are getting a lot of similar feedback, and their support team has assured me they will be fixing it, and the fix will come through as an automatic update. So pretty much, keep trying it out and eventually it will work. They couldn't give me a timeline.

Thank you so much to everyone who took time to help with this.

2 answers

Your answer

Charnaye 0 Reputation points

2026-08-27T18:48:25.6+00:00

Hi Kate, yes every single thing you have mentioned, down to the individual steps, has happend to me. The same date and time frame I came across this issue and I aslo took the same steps trying to resolve it. But like you said it works for Google mail, just not Outlook. Very frustrating indeed!
Kate Flanigan 10 Reputation points

2026-09-01T13:33:35.81+00:00

Copying this update to everyone who had similar issues, or was providing assistance and might be curious about the outcome before I close these threads.

According to Microsoft, the issue is on Microsoft's side. The just did a ton of updates to their data security system (Purview), and this is a bug where the new updates are incorrectly flagging the HTML as sensitive information, and blocking the copy/paste in the name of "insider risk management".

In companies with advanced business subscriptions, the global administrator has access to settings that may or may not help. However, if your organization has a business basics account, you will not have access to these settings.

Microsoft is very aware of the issue, they are getting a lot of similar feedback, and their support team has assured me they will be fixing it, and the fix will come through as an automatic update. So pretty much, keep trying it out and eventually it will work. They couldn't give me a timeline.

Thank you so much to everyone who took time to help with this.

Answer 1

Allan Solomon Mejia 10,305

Hi @Kate Flanigan

Based on the testing you've already done, I don't think this is a local Outlook, browser, or Windows clipboard problem.

The strongest clue is that personal → personal still works, while any copy/paste involving the business context fails to preserve formatted spreadsheet cells. You've also reproduced it across Outlook desktop/web, New and Classic Outlook, multiple browsers, Excel/Google Sheets, and another computer.

There have also been recent reports of Excel tables suddenly pasting as plain text in New Outlook. In one August 2026 Q&A case, the functionality stopped unexpectedly and later started working again without a local configuration change, suggesting that changes to the Outlook web-based editor can affect this behavior.

However, because your issue follows the business account/data rather than the device, I'd also ask your Microsoft 365 administrator to check whether a Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP), sensitivity label, Endpoint DLP, or other information-protection policy was recently introduced or changed. A policy restricting copying organizational data can produce exactly the kind of boundary-specific behavior you're seeing.

A quick isolation test would be to copy the same Excel cells into Word or Notepad on the business computer:

If Word receives the formatted table correctly but Outlook doesn't, the issue is likely on the Outlook/editor side.
If formatted content is also blocked or altered in other applications, investigate your organization's data-protection policies.
If possible, have another user under the same Microsoft 365 tenant test the same workflow. If multiple users are affected, that further points away from the local machine.

Microsoft confirms that New Outlook uses a different web-based editing experience and that paste behavior and available formatting options can differ from Classic Outlook.

Since this started suddenly on August 25 and you've already reproduced it across machines and applications, I wouldn't spend more time repairing or reinstalling Outlook yet. I'd first have the Microsoft 365 administrator check for policy changes and whether other tenant users are affected. If there were no policy changes and multiple users can reproduce it, I'd open a Microsoft 365 support case because this may be a service/editor regression.

As a temporary workaround, pasting through Word may preserve the table, or you can use Paste Special/Formatted Text where available. Microsoft documents, Paste Special can retain the source formatting, although available options vary between Microsoft 365 applications and platforms.

Please "Accept the Answer" if this information helped you. This will help us and others in the community.

Kate Flanigan 10 Reputation points

2026-08-28T17:10:09.4466667+00:00

Thanks, this is great. I am our Admin, so I have access to Purview, and it looks like you're right, they just did a major upgrade to the information protection system. Even the dashboard is new, apparently.

Do you have any thoughts on which policies/settings I need to change or reset to get the functionality back? I don't want to play around in the security settings without knowing what I need to do.
Allan Solomon Mejia 10,305 Reputation points

2026-08-28T18:24:12.44+00:00

Hello @Kate Flanigan

Thanks for confirming. Since you're the administrator and you've noticed recent Purview/Information Protection changes, check the DLP policies affecting clipboard and browser activity first, rather than changing sensitivity labels or disabling Information Protection.

In the Microsoft Purview portal, go to:

Solutions → Data Loss Prevention → Policies

Look for policies scoped to Devices, especially rules that audit or restrict device activities. Microsoft Purview Endpoint DLP can explicitly control activities such as Copy to clipboard and Paste to supported browsers.

For each applicable policy, check whether it contains either:

Copy to clipboard → Block / Block with override

or

Service domain and browser activities → Paste to supported browsers → Block / Block with override

Microsoft documents that the newer Paste to supported browsers control evaluates clipboard content at paste time and can Audit, Block with override, or Block it depending on the DLP rule and destination.

Since your issue crosses the business/personal boundary, also check:

Data Loss Prevention → Settings → Endpoint settings → Browser and domain restrictions to sensitive data

and review any Sensitive service domain groups that contain Microsoft 365/Outlook, Google Workspace, or other destinations involved in your testing. Those domain groups can determine where paste restrictions are enforced.

Don't change the sensitivity labels yet. Sensitivity labels can apply encryption and other protections, but changing or removing them could have much broader security consequences across the organization.

A safer test is to identify the DLP rule applying to your account and temporarily change only the relevant clipboard/browser action from Block to Audit for a small test user/group. Then allow time for the policy to propagate and repeat the Excel/Google Sheets → Outlook test.

Also check Data Loss Prevention → Activity explorer around the time of a failed paste. If Endpoint DLP is responsible, you may find events such as clipboard or browser-paste activity there. That would identify the specific policy/rule instead of requiring trial-and-error changes.

One important caveat: Microsoft's current documentation says Paste to Browser evaluates clipboard content independently of the source file's classification. So don't assume that changing a sensitivity label will restore the behavior. The DLP rule itself may be responsible.

If changing the relevant DLP action to Audit for a test account immediately restores formatted paste, you've isolated the cause and can then adjust that specific policy rather than weakening Information Protection tenant-wide.

If no DLP event is logged and the behavior remains even with the applicable rule in Audit mode, I would stop changing Purview settings. That would point us back toward the recent Outlook/Office editor change or service regression rather than a policy block.

Sharing these references with you:

Restrict paste actions into browsers with Endpoint DLP

Diagnose Paste to supported browsers issues

Manage sensitivity labels in Office apps

Help make this community better for everyone: if this answer resolved your issue, please accept it or leave an upvote. If not, share more details in a comment so we can continue the discussion and find the right solution.
Kate Flanigan 10 Reputation points

2026-08-29T17:09:22.3766667+00:00

Thank you so much. I wasn't able to find most of these settings/options in Purview, but they only updated the Dashboard on Aug 26th as a "preview" to some clients (including me, apparently), with a formal rollout for all clients Sept 1, so I am going to assume these instructions are for the old dashboard navigation, and I am looking at the new one.

I also don't see an option to turn off the preview and access the old interface.

Do you know where I can find these settings in the new interface? I have also opened a ticket with MS to try to get someone on their side to walk me through it.
Allan Solomon Mejia 10,305 Reputation points

2026-08-29T22:47:55.7333333+00:00

Hello @Kate Flanigan

Thanks for the update, and yes, that explains why you couldn't find some of the locations I mentioned. Microsoft has changed the Purview navigation, and the current documentation now reflects the new solution-specific navigation. Settings have also been centralized.

You don't need to switch back to the old interface. In the new Purview portal, try this path:

Solutions → Data Loss Prevention → Policies

Microsoft's current documentation uses Data Loss Prevention → Policies to review and edit DLP policies.

Start there rather than changing anything globally. Open each policy that applies to Devices and review its rules for actions such as Audit or restrict activities on Windows devices, particularly clipboard- and browser-related restrictions. Microsoft's current Endpoint DLP documentation shows these controls inside the individual DLP rule under the device restriction actions.

For the Endpoint DLP configuration itself, the new location is:

Settings → Data Loss Prevention → Endpoint DLP settings

Microsoft's updated documentation confirms this path in the new portal.

Also check:

Data Loss Prevention → Activity explorer

Activity Explorer now has predefined filter sets including Endpoint DLP activities, Egress activities, and DLP policies that detected activities. Try reproducing the failed copy/paste and then look for an event associated with your user/device. Keep in mind that Activity Explorer isn't real-time, so the event can take some time to appear.

That may actually be the safest way forward: identify which rule is firing before modifying anything.

If you find a matching DLP rule, rather than disabling it, I'd temporarily put that policy into simulation/audit mode for a limited test scope and repeat the spreadsheet → Outlook paste test. Microsoft specifically recommends simulation and limited pilot scopes when tuning DLP policies to avoid unintended business disruption.

If formatted paste starts working with that policy in audit/simulation mode, we've isolated the cause. If nothing appears in Activity Explorer and changing the applicable policy to audit/simulation doesn't change the behavior, I would stop modifying Purview. At that point, the evidence would point back toward an Outlook/Office editor change rather than DLP.

And opening the Microsoft ticket was a good move. Since your tenant is receiving the new Purview experience ahead of the wider rollout, Microsoft Support should also be able to confirm whether any behavior changed as part of that rollout.

Sharing these references with you:

Microsoft Purview portal – new navigation

Activity Explorer in Microsoft Purview

Create and deploy DLP policies

Help make this community better for everyone: if this answer resolved your issue, please accept it or leave an upvote. If not, share more details in a comment so we can continue the discussion and find the right solution.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Jenn S 0 Reputation points

2026-09-25T16:34:28.24+00:00

@Allan Solomon Mejia

This is also happening on my private computer that is not managed by an organization so there is now purview/microsoft365 admin center to access.

Did all the same checks/fix attempts as the original poster.

It just started happening to me yesterday, nearly a month after the original post. I am installing the newest update (KB5124010) to see if that addresses the issue, but in reviewing the update overview, there doesn't appear to be any sort of relationship.

This thread is one of the more common threads that come up when searching this issue, which appears to be fairly widespread. Any additional insight/guidance you can provide would likely benefit many others running into the same issue.

It really is a great hindrance.
Allan Solomon Mejia 10,305 Reputation points

2026-09-25T16:44:38.41+00:00

Hi @Jenn S

Thanks for adding this. The fact that you're seeing the same behavior on an unmanaged personal PC matters because it means we shouldn't assume Purview or an organization-level policy is the cause in every case.

Microsoft also documented a separate September 2026 Excel issue where certain paste operations can fail after recent Office updates. Microsoft has released corrective updates for affected perpetual Office versions, although some paste failures involving conditional formatting may remain.

However, I can't find verified Microsoft documentation confirming that this Excel issue specifically causes the HTML-formatted Excel/Google Sheets → Outlook behavior described in this thread, so I don't want to incorrectly connect the two.

Please let us know whether installing the latest Office update changes the behavior. If it doesn't, sharing your exact Excel/Outlook versions and builds would help determine whether you're experiencing the same issue as the original poster or a separate clipboard/rendering problem.

Thanks for adding another data point.

Answer 2

Kate Flanigan 10

Thanks, this is great. I am our Admin, so I have access to Purview, and it looks like you're right, they just did a major upgrade to the information protection system. Even the dashboard is new, apparently.

Do you have any thoughts on which policies/settings I need to change or reset to get the functionality back? I don't want to play around in the security settings without knowing what I need to do.

Hornblower409 16,350 Reputation points

2026-08-28T17:29:09.9766667+00:00

@Kate Flanigan said

I have access to Purview, and it looks like you're right, they just did a major upgrade to the information protection system

Certainly hope you're right and this can be fixed with a Purview setting.

But what makes you think that Purview might be the culprit? I don't see any reports of a warning or error messages from Purview when doing the paste.