# Copy and Paste Issue in ChatGPT Desktop App on macOS **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugs\ **Tags:** bug, macos\ **Created:** [May 17, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078 "2024-05-17T19:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![anon66992119](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@anon66992119](https://community.openai.com/u/anon66992119)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/1 "2024-05-17T19:15:31Z")
I’m experiencing an issue with the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS where copying and pasting text is not functioning correctly. When I copy text from Outlook and try to paste it into the ChatGPT desktop app, the text pastes as an image instead of plain text. Here are the details: • **Operating System** : macOS • **Issue** : Copying text from Outlook and pasting it into the ChatGPT desktop app results in the text being pasted as an image. • **Steps to Reproduce** : 1. Copy text from an email in Outlook. 2. Paste the text into the ChatGPT desktop app using Command + V. • **Expected Behavior** : The text should be pasted as plain text. • **Actual Behavior** : The text is pasted as an image. Due to this issue, I am considering switching back to the web version of ChatGPT, where copy and paste functionality works correctly. I hope this feedback helps in identifying and fixing the issue. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![mzzoo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/mzzoo/32/373580_2.png) [@mzzoo](https://community.openai.com/u/mzzoo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2024, 11:10am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/2 "2024-05-19T11:10:11Z")
I’m experiencing the same problem, and would classify this as an unwanted behaviour. Web Version - CMD+Shift+V is always possible to do, however, the app version doesn’t allow this when pasting from Word. ---
**Author:** ![Salient](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/salient/32/146161_2.png) [@Salient](https://community.openai.com/u/Salient)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2024, 8:01am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/3 "2024-05-20T08:01:12Z")
Exact same issue here, very very annoying ---
**Author:** ![quest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ac8455/32.png) [@quest](https://community.openai.com/u/quest)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 3:24am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/4 "2024-05-21T03:24:29Z")
Experiencing the same thing – it pastes as an image and then chatgpt doesn’t know what that is - says “I’m sorry, but I’m unable to directly read or extract text from image files.” ---
**Author:** ![andres\_susarret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@andres\_susarret](https://community.openai.com/u/andres_susarret)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 12:26pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/5 "2024-05-21T12:26:15Z")
Same thing here. Extremely annoying. I had to switch to the web app to do a basic chat about items I needed to paste. I also cannot paste a web URL; it creates a dump of the content from the referenced URL rather than just the URL itself. ---
**Author:** ![ncamarda93](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/0ea827/32.png) [@ncamarda93](https://community.openai.com/u/ncamarda93)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/6 "2024-05-21T15:58:30Z")
+1 I’m also experiencing this issue. Need to paste the text into Notes and then paste into ChatGPT app to get around this. Very annoying. ---
**Author:** ![ctoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@ctoler](https://community.openai.com/u/ctoler)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/7 "2024-05-21T16:19:24Z")
I’m experiencing the same issue @anon66992119 identified with the ChatGPT desktop app on macOS where copying and pasting text isn’t functioning correctly. When I copy text from Outlook and try to paste it into the ChatGPT desktop app, it pastes as an image instead of plain text. Details: • Operating System: macOS 14.4.1 • Device: MacBook Pro, 16-inch, 2023 • Chip: Apple M2 Max • Memory: 32 GB • Issue: Copying text from Outlook and pasting it into the ChatGPT desktop app results in the text being pasted as an image. • Steps to Reproduce: 1. Copy text from an email in Outlook. 2. Paste the text into the ChatGPT desktop app using Command + V. • Expected Behavior: The text should paste as plain text. • Actual Behavior: The text pastes as an image. I hope this feedback helps OpenAI in identifying and fixing the issue. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![iggiotti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/iggiotti/32/377394_2.png) [@iggiotti](https://community.openai.com/u/iggiotti)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/8 "2024-05-22T13:47:50Z")
Same problem here on MacOS. When copying text from Outlook and then pasting it into ChatGPT prompt, the text pastes as an image that the application is unable to read. The only workaround found is to return to the web version. ---
**Author:** ![cwest159](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/cwest159/32/378201_2.png) [@cwest159](https://community.openai.com/u/cwest159)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/9 "2024-05-23T01:00:47Z")
Same issue here on MacOS. Very unwanted behavior thats causing me to revert back to the web app. ---
**Author:** ![kurisuhiwa](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/kurisuhiwa/32/215440_2.png) [@kurisuhiwa](https://community.openai.com/u/kurisuhiwa)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/10 "2024-05-23T13:43:02Z")
I believe this has nothing to do with ChatGPT or MacOS directly, but it seems to be a strange behavior related to Microsoft Apps on MacOS. I have the same issue, but found that users since years have the same problem. Until i find a proper solution i copy to a text editor and from there to ChatGPT. ---
**Author:** ![Resiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba8739/32.png) [@Resiak](https://community.openai.com/u/Resiak)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 9:14am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/11 "2024-05-24T09:14:38Z")
Same problem here, but it doesn’t matter which application I copy the text from. Also, ChatGPT gives me random (hallucinated) OCR output… ---
**Author:** ![sawan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/sawan/32/33618_2.png) [@sawan](https://community.openai.com/u/sawan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 12:07pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/12 "2024-05-24T12:07:20Z")
Here is a nice website that you could use to paste from ChatGPT: > **[Simple Paste - Your Clipboard Content Converter](https://simplepaste.org)** > > Simple Paste is a secure tool that converts your clipboard content into different formats. It's perfect for pasting content into Gmail, Notion, Google Docs, MS Word, and more. It allows pasting complex formatted text (e.g. from ChatGPT) into simple... Just paste the content from ChatGPT and re-copy from here, it will be cleaned up. It even gives you the option to copy the source Markdown content. ---
**Author:** ![ldmtwo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/ldmtwo/32/265086_2.png) [@ldmtwo](https://community.openai.com/u/ldmtwo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/13 "2024-05-25T10:07:32Z")
Same issue. **Mac OS and Windows 10, Chrome and Firefox**. I can reduce this issue by cutting text first from either the address bar or text input box. No other website or tool has this issue. The copy listener is failing. Quite a few JS errors in the console. I’m going to start blocking OpenAI from spying because what I saw when inspecting the source is a turn off. For a temp solution, I’ll test if removing the copy listener fixes this. How? right-click \> inspect \> … \> listeners. Source map error: Error: request failed with status 404 Resource URL: [https://cdn.oaistatic.com/\_next/static/css/3fa7e362c60113a3.css?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0](https://cdn.oaistatic.com/_next/static/css/3fa7e362c60113a3.css?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0) Source Map URL: 3fa7e362c60113a3.css.map Source map error: Error: URL constructor: is not a valid URL. Resource URL: wasm:[https://cdn.oaistatic.com/\_next/static/chunks/vendor-500010f15c76dbe3.js?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0%20line%2031%20\>%20WebAssembly.compile](https://cdn.oaistatic.com/_next/static/chunks/vendor-500010f15c76dbe3.js?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0%20line%2031%20%3E%20WebAssembly.compile) Source Map URL: null Source map error: Error: request failed with status 404 Resource URL: [https://cdn.oaistatic.com/\_next/static/chunks/3590.bacaa9c23f3a30b7.js?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0](https://cdn.oaistatic.com/_next/static/chunks/3590.bacaa9c23f3a30b7.js?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0) Source Map URL: 3590.bacaa9c23f3a30b7.js.map Source map error: Error: request failed with status 404 Resource URL: [https://cdn.oaistatic.com/\_next/static/chunks/pages/\_app-80933a1d21cb4466.js?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0](https://cdn.oaistatic.com/_next/static/chunks/pages/_app-80933a1d21cb4466.js?dpl=0eb06d1ca14a173bcd1bae1cf21f80dca728a1a0) Source Map URL: \_app-80933a1d21cb4466.js.map ​ ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/original/4X/d/1/6/d16f6b61f3419860d84638a44455c2240b0b3ee8.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/original/4X/f/f/1/ff1b134293da57d019cab4d14c82d8cfbf1a4133.png) ---
**Author:** ![ldmtwo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/ldmtwo/32/265086_2.png) [@ldmtwo](https://community.openai.com/u/ldmtwo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/14 "2024-05-25T10:09:16Z")
I forgot to add there are CPU/GPU spikes as well ---
**Author:** ![PurpleFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@PurpleFrog](https://community.openai.com/u/PurpleFrog)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/15 "2024-05-25T22:43:07Z")
I have a solution (for Mac users). I use the application CopyLess2 on my Mac. It now costs $9.99 but I used it before this issue. It basically retains everything on your clipboard. It has an option to paste items “as plain text” and it works into ChatGPT every time. It works where CMD, opt, V does not (mac’s plain text paste). ---
**Author:** ![JollyJohn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/jollyjohn/32/381234_2.png) [@JollyJohn](https://community.openai.com/u/JollyJohn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/16 "2024-05-26T01:12:37Z")
Yep +1 - same problem here. It makes the desktop OpenAI tool totally unusable. As for pasting into another tool first to “clean up” the paste buffer content - **I thought AI was supposed to save us time, not introduce additional steps. and slow things down** I’ve noticed if I do the same in the web-browser interface, I get an image AND the text, which slows things down and probably results in more work (and more tokens) from the ChatGPT side. Again, how do I turn this off? ---
**Author:** ![mmackinnon123](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/mmackinnon123/32/382726_2.png) [@mmackinnon123](https://community.openai.com/u/mmackinnon123)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/17 "2024-05-27T19:32:22Z")
Same issue. Cannot copy and paste ---
**Author:** ![nolmscheid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nolmscheid](https://community.openai.com/u/nolmscheid)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/18 "2024-05-28T19:21:26Z")
Same issue for me as well. It does it on the web as well but I just delete the image before I submit. The desktop app only pastes the image and not the text. ---
**Author:** ![Am4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Am4](https://community.openai.com/u/Am4)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/19 "2024-05-28T21:27:22Z")
same issue here. hope can be fix soon ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Ron\_Hammer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/mr_ron_hammer/32/384786_2.png) [@Mr\_Ron\_Hammer](https://community.openai.com/u/Mr_Ron_Hammer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078/20 "2024-05-29T20:36:16Z")
Im also having the same issue. I have to copy it into textedit first in order to paste the plain text. I hope this can be resolved! its been very frustrating since I do a lot of copying and pasting from emails. [Next page](https://community.openai.com/t/copy-and-paste-issue-in-chatgpt-desktop-app-on-macos/761078.md?page=2)