Paste special in ArcGIS Pro

[MatthewWalls]

I feel this is a ridiculous question, but I can't figure copying and "paste special". All I want to do is copy and paste between feature classes. Sometimes it works - I copy select everything, then "paste special" lights up and I can click on it an bring up the dialog box. But most of the time, it just stays greyed out. I can copy, I can paste, but I can't "paste special". I can't figure out what the difference is. Sometimes if I close down the program and reopen it, it suddenly works. I've looked through forums can get the sense people are struggling with the same thing, but I never see a clear answer... just links to the copy/paste/pastespeical page that doesn't answer my question. 

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

I have had this problem as well. Not sure why. But I usually have to click on the Select tool (arrow) and then click on my feature again in the map, even though it shows it's selected. And then it will let me Paste Special.

[Anonymous User]

I figured this part out - if I have the contents pane active Pro thinks I'm trying to copy/paste a layer in my map, instead of copying and pasting the data I have selected in my map. That's why if I reselect the data in the map with the select tool arrow then it will let me paste special. I have copy/pasted layers in my map before by accident that's why it occurred to me.

I think an editing toolbar that would let the software know we were only dealing with the data in the map would be helpful.

[AshleyPattersonTheMapNERD]

 WOW this one hung me up for way too long. Here is what helped me......

Excuse the ugly snip but I was in a hurry to make up ground. 

I made sure that I was under the MAP TAB on the TOP rather than edit etc and Then Pro decided to enable "paste special for me"..... wasn't that nice of her? Sheesh, this was driving me over the edge- hope this helps someone else.....

[jarlgeorge]

Were you able to find the answer to this?

What I notice is that if I select a number of features, I have to wait for quite a while for the Paste Special to light up.

[LarsArneson]

I've found that even if I follow all of the steps above I run into an issue. I believe it relates to the amount of objects I'm trying to paste is over 200. I could be wrong about this but I've tested a ton of differences and I only get a "not appropriate template available" when I have more objects.

[KeithAddison1]

I've been having this problem since using Pro.  Sometimes the various solutions here and elsewhere on the web work, other times it seems random.  Eventually I can fix it by flailing randomly: switching tabs back and forth, clicking around windows, restarting the program, and/or just waiting until the Arc gods smile upon me.  Also wondering why of late the Append tool says my SDE target polygon layer is read only when I know its not and no one else is in it, but copy/paste operations will let me add item to it another weird ghost I've been dealing with.  Appears to be a new problem since updating to Pro 3.1.

[VaLoyBriscoe]

Make sure your "Map" tab is selected (blue).

See ESRI video:  https://mediaspace.esri.com/media/t/1_dhj6ylwo

[AmyNewsam]

This STILL drives me crazy!  Using the "select all" option to copy, sometimes paste special works and then all of a sudden it doesn't anymore.  I can still individually select features and copy/paste special... so weird.  

[LarsArneson]

Almost 5 years since the post! Maybe this year Paste will work as expected.

[NancyBellegarde1]

If I shut down ArcGIS Pro and open it again, it seems to work fine. 😐