Paste or Select All doesn't work in a text box

Copy (⌘C), paste (⌘V), cut (⌘X), select all (⌘A) and undo (⌘Z) work in every text box in Storage Studio — including the code fields when you extend a trial, enter a licence or set up a drive. If one of them doesn't respond, you're most likely on an older version: update, and it will work. One small group of boxes refuses pasting on purpose, and says so.

What you might see

• You press ⌘V in a code field and nothing appears.
• ⌘A doesn't select the text in a box.
• A confirmation box says "Copying and pasting are switched off here on purpose."

Likely causes

An older version of Storage Studio. Storage Studio normally lives in the menu bar with no Dock icon, and a menu-bar app has no Edit menu for macOS to send these shortcuts through. Current versions handle the shortcuts themselves in every window, from the very first window you see. Some older versions handled them only in some windows, so a few boxes — such as the trial extension code field — took typing but not a paste.

A confirmation that refuses pasting on purpose. A handful of actions on a drive can't be undone, such as Empty this drive and set it up again, Remove our data and forget the key and Destroy this drive. Their confirmation shows a word under "Type this word to continue:" and you have to type it by hand. That box refuses paste, copy, cut and select all, and the word itself can't be selected. Typing it takes long enough to read what's about to happen — which is the point.

Other confirmations that ask you to type a word, such as "Type “Replace” to continue", do accept a paste, so people using dictation or a switch device aren't blocked.

%% caption: Working out why a paste didn't work
flowchart TD
  A[Paste or Select All does nothing] --> B{Does the box say copying and pasting are switched off?}
  B -->|Yes| C[Type the word by hand - this is deliberate]
  B -->|No| D{Are you on the latest version?}
  D -->|No| E[Update Storage Studio, then try again]
  D -->|Yes| F[Click inside the box first, then press the shortcut]
  F --> G{Still nothing?}
  G -->|Yes| H[Contact Support and say which box it was]

How to fix it

1. Click inside the text box so the cursor is blinking in it, then press the shortcut again. The shortcuts act only on the box that's being edited, so ⌘A elsewhere keeps its own meaning — for example selecting every file in a file list.
2. Update Storage Studio. See Keeping Storage Studio up to date.
3. Use ⇧⌘V if you want to paste without formatting.
4. If you can't paste a code, you can always type it in by hand.
5. If a box on the latest version still refuses a paste and doesn't say why, tell us which window it was in through Contact Support in the More menu. See Getting help.

See also: Keyboard shortcuts · Extending your trial · Activating your licence · Something's not working: start here