topic Re: Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations

AudreyBartels — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:52:16 GMT

My goal is to copy & paste an annotated label, then edit the text of the label. I've been able to do the copy & paste, but the second I try to change the text using the annotation editing tool the project freezes and I have to use task manager to close it.

This isn't the only project having this issue. Another project I couldn't even copy & paste without it freezing. This would always happen sometimes, but it's been happening frequently since the new update. Is there any way to fix this? Or is it a bug?

Re: Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations

GlenterpriseUK — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:09:39 GMT

Hi @AudreyBartels ,

What version of ArcGIS Pro are you using?

Is it local data in a File Geodatabase or are you attempting the task with data from ArcGIS Online/Enterprise (Any Enterprise Geodatabase involved?)

Can you reproduce the same behaviour on a new ArcGIS Pro project with same data?

Looking forward to hear from you.

Re: Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations

JonM32 — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:18:02 GMT

@AudreyBartels

I had the same thing happen today. I tried to copy and paste annotation in a layout, and it froze. I tasked manager closed it and restarted. Then did the copy and paste by opening the actual map and it worked.

I just upgraded to pro 3.7 this week and all work is in a file geodatabase.

Re: Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations

GlenterpriseUK — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:33:53 GMT

I believe you both are facing a bug

https://support.esri.com/en-us/bug/arcgis-pro-hangs-indefinitely-after-copying-and-pasting-bug-000185272

It would be great to get in touch with Esri Technical Support to see if this bug matches your workflow

Regards,

Glen

Re: Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations

AudreyBartels — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:03:19 GMT

It's the newest version or Pro (3.7) and it's all local data in a File Geodatabase. I haven't necessarily tried a new project, but it has happened in other projects using different data.

Re: Pro freezes when trying to copy & paste annotations

JohnHatfield — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:38:48 GMT

I also have the exact same issue. I'm using 3.7, with 2 fresh downloads last week; uninstalling the program first. The second time I used Revo Unistaller, which is supposed to wipe every trace of a program from the system. I've created a new project with the minimum layers needed and reduced the visible layers as well. Friday I was able to copy & paste several times with no issue, and thought I had it fixed, but the very first time I pasted an annotation it today, it locked up. You can still choose all the tabs, open options and whatnot, but when I click on the edit tab, everything is grayed out and I get a spinning circle for the curser.