How to copy a record as a new record in MS 365 Access. Facility has been removed.

grayb 25

I know that you cannot 'copy a record as a new record in MS 365 Access' anymore. As the facility has been removed in recent upgrades.

I do not believe this is an upgrade but a retrograde step. MS seems to be going backwards and not forward.

Is there a workaround, a hack, or additional VB code to get it to work. As this ability is an absolute necessity.

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8 answers

grayb 25 Reputation points

2026-03-16T08:17:42.84+00:00
MS Access BUG problem solved re How to copy a record as a new record in MS 365 Access.

I take no credit for the code whatsoever, as it was found at

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/72075278/how-to-avoid-ms-access-error-the-command-or-action-paste-is-not-available-now

Replace
```
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSelectRecord
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdCopy
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdRecordsGoToNew
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSelectRecord
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdPaste
```
With
```
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSelectRecord
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdCopy
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdRecordsGoToNew
    
    
DoEvents  'let Access finish moving to new record
'Optional micro-pause if needed
Dim t As Single: t = Timer
Do While Timer < t + 0.1
    DoEvents
Loop
    
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdSelectRecord
    DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdPaste
```
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George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-16T14:02:09.1233333+00:00

Sometimes a work-around is enough. Given this is a decades old database application, and given you probably don't want to invest time and effort in bringing code up to date, a good-enough work-around is an appropriate solution in the short run.

That said, work-arounds tend not to be highly reliable in the long run, so do keep Duane's advice in mind.
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Duane Hookom 26,825 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-15T16:59:33+00:00

I suggest you simply move away from the DoCmd syntax in favor of an append query followed by moving to the new record. You would start by creating an append query using the table from the form's record source and setting a filter/criteria to the current record's primary key. Run the query and then move to the record with the newly inserted primary key.

I strongly recommend you consider normalizing your table structures but assume this might be a bit late since the application has been in use for possibly decades.
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grayb 25 Reputation points

2026-03-15T12:54:38.8733333+00:00

Here is proof. Do not worry about the 2 buttons, one is a copy of the other. The button is part of the inbuilt forms/buttons
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George Hepworth 22,855 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-15T16:48:08.7033333+00:00

The button labelled "Duplicate Record" is a user created command button, not a built-in Access function. It was created by the developer who created the form it is on. The code behind that button uses DoCmd statements that were commonly implemented at one time, although not so much currently. That leads me to believe this is probably an mdb created with an earlier version of Access, maybe 2003.

In any case, in my repo using Access 365, that exact code, which I copied from your post, worked as expected. That leads me to believe the problem lies in the Windows clipboard function in your Windows installation and incompatibility with the version of Access installed.

Diagnosing that requires interaction with the form on your system. It may be the case, however, that your installed Access version is no longer compatible with Windows 11 and the solution is to either upgrade Access or perhaps reinstall or repair it.

Because that appears to be a custom error message, and not the actual error message being raised in the code the developer wrote, you would need to put a break point in that code and step through it. Find the actual error number and error message raised. Then google for that exact error to see if you can find a solution. Here's one post that might be of interest in that regard.

https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-fix-copy-and-paste-not-working-in-windows-10/
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How to copy a record as a new record in MS 365 Access. Facility has been removed.

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