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BUG: Copy/Paste between workspace and host OS not working

0

I use my workspace all the time and there is a nasty copy/paste bug in Workspaces, between workspaces and the host OS.

How copy/paste should and does work:

  1. run workspace maximized / full screen (but my host Windows 11 taskbar IS still at the bottom of my screen)
  2. inside workspace, open notepad, and type "AAAA", select and copy
  3. click on host OS taskbar, and run notepad (in host OS) and ctrl-v and "AAAA" is correctly pasted

However, and here is the copy/paste BUG:

  1. click on workspace, go to notepad already open and type "BBBB", highlight and copy
  2. in the host OS taskbar (do NOT click on host OS taskbar), move the mouse over the still open notepad and wait for host OS to popup a representation of notepad, then click on the icon in the taskbar below the popup.
  3. ctrl-v and "AAAA" is pasted, not the expected "BBBB"

And then surprisingly:

  1. click on workspace
  2. click on host OS taskbar
  3. click on notepad in host OS and ctrl-V and "BBBB" is pasted even though there was no 'copy'. So there clearly is a timing bug of WHEN something is the workspace clipboard is copied to the host OS, or not.
Topics
End User Computing
Tags
Amazon WorkSpaces
Language
English
asked 4 months ago63 views
1 Answer
0

The issue you're experiencing with copy/paste functionality between your Amazon WorkSpace and host operating system appears to be related to clipboard synchronization timing.

When using Amazon WorkSpaces, the clipboard data isn't instantly transferred between the WorkSpace and your host computer. There's a synchronization process that needs to complete before the copied content becomes available in the destination environment.

For WorkSpaces Web Access specifically, after copying content from the host, you need to wait for a "Clipboard Synchronize" green message to appear before the content is available in the WorkSpace clipboard. A similar synchronization likely happens when copying from the WorkSpace to the host.

In your scenario, when you're using the taskbar hover preview to switch applications (rather than explicitly clicking on the taskbar first), you may be bypassing the clipboard synchronization trigger that normally occurs during a more deliberate context switch between the WorkSpace and host OS.

Some factors that could affect clipboard functionality:

  • Clipboard redirection settings (which can be controlled by administrators)
  • The size of copied content (maximum is 20MB uncompressed)
  • The type of content being copied
  • The WorkSpaces protocol you're using (PCoIP or WSP)

If this issue persists, you might want to:

  1. Ensure you have the latest WorkSpaces client installed
  2. Try a more deliberate switching pattern between WorkSpace and host
  3. Contact your WorkSpaces administrator to verify clipboard redirection is properly enabled
    Sources
    Copy & Paste from Host to Amazon Workspace Web Access | AWS re:Post
    Copy and paste in WorkSpaces | AWS re:Post
    Troubleshoot WorkSpaces client issues - Amazon WorkSpaces
answered 4 months ago

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