If the line in the table is not empty, text can’t be pasted from external applications. Copying and pasting from within Obsidian works fine in all cases, though.
Steps to reproduce
- Create a table in the sanbox vault
- Copy any text in an external application
I tried OneNote and my browser so far. Text from both of them can’t be pasted
- Return to Obsidian
- Put cursor in the table cell
- Hit
Space or input any other character
Apart from space, I also tried with ● or - in the table cell. Text was not pasted in all these instances
- Try pasting the text copied from the external application
Y
Expected result
The copied content is pasted in the table cell.
Actual result
Nothing happens.
Environment
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.5.8
Installer version: v1.5.8
Operating system: Windows 10 Home 10.0.22631
Login status: logged in
Catalyst license: none
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on
RECOMMENDATIONS:
none
Additional information
Gif with OneNote and Space as an example:
I note that, in case there is already text in the cell, Ctrl+Shift+V will paste the text. That hotkey will paste “unformatted text”.
Ctrl+V will paste converted HTML. For example, linked text from a browser will be pasted with a markdown link. A HTML header (e.g. <H1>) will insert a # in front. Such text is not pasted if the cell is not empty. I guess this is deliberately implemented that way, although I cannot see why.
Well, in the gif I was trying to paste plain text, not headings, and it still did not work with Ctrl+V. I’ve just tried to paste a random text with no formatting from Word with both Ctrl+V and Ctrl+Shift+V, but it still does not paste if a cell already contains a character. So I do not think the problem lies in the formatting.
Btw, provided that there are no characters in the cell when I am pasting, I actually can paste heading “Summary” from here in the table with Ctrl+V (the link is random, used it just because it was open at the moment of writing this reply). In my case, it is pasted as ## Summary.
Perhaps it depends on the operating system. For me on Linux, Ctrl+Shift+V always will paste unformatted text, also in a cell containing text. Ctrl+V, however, will not if the clipboard contains html text. It will, if the clipboard contains just plain text, e.g. copied from a text editor.
Yeah, maybe this is Windows-specific. I use Obsidian only on a Windows PC. Plus, you may use a different Obsidian version. In version 1.5.3 I did not experience this problem. It occurred only after I updated to version 1.5.8, so I assume it’s related to the update.
Just to confirm for me this is also 1.5.8. I thought I would be able to quickly test loading the AppImage of the previous version, but apparently a mechanism is used where the older appimage loads an update .config/obsidian/obsidian-1.5.8.asar.
If you still feel like trying, you may actually turn off your Wi-Fi before installing the old version. When the app is installed, turn off automatic updates in the Obsidian settings, and then you can turn on Wi-Fi again whenever you need it. I did this a couple of hours a go to revert to 1.5.3, and it worked for me.
I played around with that again and noticed that it’s actually about the cursor position rather than the input. I can sucessully paste text if the cursor is at the very beginning of the line in the cell. So pasting can be sucessfully done in the second/third/etc line as long as the cursor is at the beginning of that line. Pasting in the middle of the line in the cell fails with both the right-click menu and shortcuts.
This time I also opened console in the sandbox vault when trying to paste in the middle of a cell, and it showed this error:
Log
app.js:1 Obsidian Developer Console
app.js:1 Uncaught RangeError: Applying change set to a document with the wrong length
at t.apply (app.js:1:288552)
at e.get (app.js:1:306772)
at e.applyTransaction (app.js:1:311889)
at e.get (app.js:1:307092)
at e.update (app.js:1:465799)
at e.dispatchTransactions (app.js:1:463531)
at e.dispatch (app.js:1:465414)
at app.js:1:1329741
t.apply @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.applyTransaction @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
dispatchTransactions @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
setTimeout (async)
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
Ri @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
t.replaceSelection @ app.js:1
e.handlePaste @ app.js:1
paste @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
e.runHandlers @ app.js:1
e.handleEvent @ app.js:1
app.js:1 Uncaught RangeError: Applying change set to a document with the wrong length
at t.apply (app.js:1:288552)
at e.get (app.js:1:306772)
at e.applyTransaction (app.js:1:311889)
at e.get (app.js:1:307092)
at e.update (app.js:1:465799)
at e.dispatchTransactions (app.js:1:463531)
at e.dispatch (app.js:1:465414)
at app.js:1:1329741
t.apply @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.applyTransaction @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
dispatchTransactions @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
setTimeout (async)
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
Ri @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
t.replaceSelection @ app.js:1
e.handlePaste @ app.js:1
paste @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
e.runHandlers @ app.js:1
e.handleEvent @ app.js:1
app.js:1 Uncaught RangeError: Applying change set to a document with the wrong length
at t.apply (app.js:1:288552)
at e.get (app.js:1:306772)
at e.applyTransaction (app.js:1:311889)
at e.get (app.js:1:307092)
at e.update (app.js:1:465799)
at e.dispatchTransactions (app.js:1:463531)
at e.dispatch (app.js:1:465414)
at app.js:1:1329741
t.apply @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.applyTransaction @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
dispatchTransactions @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
setTimeout (async)
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
Ri @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
t.replaceSelection @ app.js:1
e.handlePaste @ app.js:1
paste @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
e.runHandlers @ app.js:1
e.handleEvent @ app.js:1
app.js:1 Uncaught RangeError: Applying change set to a document with the wrong length
at t.apply (app.js:1:288552)
at e.get (app.js:1:306772)
at e.applyTransaction (app.js:1:311889)
at e.get (app.js:1:307092)
at e.update (app.js:1:465799)
at e.dispatchTransactions (app.js:1:463531)
at e.dispatch (app.js:1:465414)
at app.js:1:1329741
t.apply @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.applyTransaction @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
dispatchTransactions @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
setTimeout (async)
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
Ri @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
t.replaceSelection @ app.js:1
e.handlePaste @ app.js:1
paste @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
e.runHandlers @ app.js:1
e.handleEvent @ app.js:1
app.js:1 Uncaught RangeError: Applying change set to a document with the wrong length
at t.apply (app.js:1:288552)
at e.get (app.js:1:306772)
at e.applyTransaction (app.js:1:311889)
at e.get (app.js:1:307092)
at e.update (app.js:1:465799)
at e.dispatchTransactions (app.js:1:463531)
at e.dispatch (app.js:1:465414)
at app.js:1:1329741
t.apply @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.applyTransaction @ app.js:1
get @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
dispatchTransactions @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
setTimeout (async)
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
Ri @ app.js:1
e.update @ app.js:1
e.dispatch @ app.js:1
t.replaceSelection @ app.js:1
e.handlePaste @ app.js:1
paste @ app.js:1
(anonymous) @ app.js:1
e.runHandlers @ app.js:1
e.handleEvent @ app.js:1
Nice catch. It is now more likely to me that this is not intended, in other words, that this is a little bug.