Paste stops working ("CFPasteboardRef: Lock timeout")
Pasting from the clipboard stopped working on my Mac. Nothing is pasted, and the following line appears many time in syslog.
Apr 5 **:**:** *** com.apple.WebKit.WebContent[6583] <Warning>: CFPasteboardRef CFPasteboardCreate(CFAllocatorRef, CFStringRef) : Lock timeout
This seems related to a clipboard tool I installed ("FlyCut"), but I have since uninstalled. I can see no running process related to the tool (using ps -ef).
Rebooting temporarily solves the problem. Is this a virus? At any rate, how do I get rid of the problem? Found nothing of value searching for the log message. Malwarebytes reports nothing.
Update: Reported the issue to Apple, and they said it was caused by an app called "Time Out". They are still working to resolve the problem. In the meantime, uninstall this app.
Solution 1:
Doesn't appear to be malware for me.
The workaround (though totally crappy) is:
- Launch
Activity Monitor - Find
pboardprocess and quit the process. - Restart applications where you would like to copy from or paste into.
Solution 2:
I'm the author of Dejal Time Out. This issue appears to be an Apple bug; I've contacted them, and they told me that it is a known issue with no workaround. See this FAQ item for more information.
Solution 3:
Apple reported back to me and Time Out was the culprit.
Solution 4:
If you have the Dejal Time Out app installed, I suggest you try the following steps which worked for me:
- Exit the “Time Out” app.
- Press, Cmd+Alt+Esc, locate Finder, press “Relaunch”.
- Restart an app where copy/paste does not work, and try it again.
If this does not help, I'm afraid, you need to restart your computer. For me it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.