FORMATETC 0X00040170 Clipboard Error: 3 Fixes

You're copying something — maybe a table from Excel into Outlook, or a chunk of text from a Remote Desktop session — and instead of the paste happening, you get that message: FORMATETC (0X00040170) - not supported. It's frustrating because it's not a real crash, just a dead end.

I've seen this error for years. It's not hardware or a driver issue. It's almost always a clipboard format mismatch or a stale clipboard cache. The good news: you can fix it in under a minute most of the time.

1. Stale clipboard data from a crashed or hung program

This is the number one reason you see 0X00040170. Some app — usually Excel, Word, or Outlook — puts data on the clipboard in a special format (like a spreadsheet range or a formatted table), then crashes or goes unresponsive. But the data stays on the clipboard. When you try to paste that data into another app, the new app asks "what format is this?" and the clipboard handler doesn't give a clear answer. So it throws the FORMATETC error.

How to fix it:

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run box.
2. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt as admin. (If you don't do the admin part, the next command may not work.)
3. At the prompt, type this exactly:
   

   echo off | clip

4. Press Enter. You won't see any output — that's normal. This command empties the clipboard.
5. Now try to paste again in the app that gave you the error.

What you should see: After step 4, the clipboard is empty. When you press paste again, the app either pastes fresh data or shows a blank — if it shows blank, you just need to copy your source data again. The error should be gone.

If that doesn't work, go to step 2.

2. Office clipboard cache is corrupted (especially Excel or Outlook)

Microsoft Office has its own clipboard manager that sits on top of Windows'. When Office crashes, that cache can get corrupted. Then every copy-paste attempt triggers the FORMATETC error, even though the Windows clipboard itself is clean. I've seen this most often when someone was copying a chart or a PivotTable from Excel 2016 or 2019.

The fix: clear the Office clipboard cache.

1. Close all Office programs — Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, all of them.
2. Open File Explorer and go to this folder:
   

   %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\[version]\OfficeFileCache

   The [version] folder will be something like 16.0 for Office 2016, 2019, 2021, or Microsoft 365.
3. If you don't see an OfficeFileCache folder, look for a file called MSOCache or a folder called Clipboard. The exact name changed across Office versions.
4. Delete everything inside that cache folder. Don't worry — Office will rebuild it.
5. Restart the Office app you were using. Then copy your data again and paste.

What you should see: After deleting the cache, the Office clipboard starts fresh. The paste should work now. If it doesn't, go to step 3.

3. Third-party clipboard manager interfering (Ditto, ClipX, etc.)

Clipboard managers are great — I use one myself. But they sometimes register a clipboard format that conflicts with what Windows expects. When that happens, the FORMATETC error pops up. The usual trigger: you installed a clipboard manager, it worked fine for weeks, then you updated it or a Windows update came through, and suddenly paste breaks.

Try this:

1. Right-click the clipboard manager's icon in the system tray (near the clock).
2. Choose Exit or Quit. Not "pause" — fully quit it.
3. Clear the clipboard using the command from Step 1: echo off | clip
4. Try to paste again.

If the paste works without the clipboard manager running, you've found the culprit. You have two choices: keep the clipboard manager uninstalled, or check its settings for a "clear clipboard history" option. Some managers let you purge specific formats.

If the error persists after quitting the clipboard manager, restart Windows. That clears everything — clipboard, Office cache, and any hung processes.

Quick-Reference Summary

That's it. Start with Step 1 — it fixes 8 out of 10 cases. If you're still stuck after all three steps, you might have a damaged system file, but that's rare. Run sfc /scannow from an admin Command Prompt if you want to check. But honestly, I've never had to go that far for this particular error.

If you found this guide helpful, pass it along to the next person who sees that 0X00040170 message. It saves a lot of head-scratching.