[Software] Clipboard not pasting anything

[AstralDice]

Hey,
so I just downloaded kubuntu but the clipboard just doesn't paste anything I want it to paste (I'd like to say "as shown in the video" but I can't embed my own screen recording apparently). It looks like whenever I open the clipboard, the desktop deselects the window (meaning it "unfocuses" the textfield in which I wanna paste stuff from my clipboard)

The thing is, I absolutely need the clipboard because of language learning and me having to copy tons of definitions and having to paste them into my program via the clipboard. If I can't use it it'd genuinely increase my study time by 20mins a day at least (which is an absolute dealbreaker for me to use linux)

I have almost no experience with Linux overall so please go light on me... using Kubuntu v25.10

Thanks a thousand tons in advance

[Snowhog]

Select/copy the entry in the clipboard you want, then paste into the window you want.

[jlittle]

Perhaps the selection is not the clipboard? The difference can be confusing, especially for Windows refugees.

Right click the clipboard in the system tray, click Configure clipboard, is "Keep the selection and clipboard the same" checked?

[AstralDice]

Thanks alot John! (I hope it's okay if I call you by your first name lol)

It does work, though it is somewhat annoying that I first have to select it and then hit ctrl+v again.

Something weird I found out as well: when I select the entry at the top of my clipboard (meaning the thing that would be pasted if I pressed ctrl+v), it doesn't output it no more. Is this normal behavior? Asking just out of curiosity

Edit: I also just realized (it's 1:30am where I live, sleep deprivation kicking in) that the thing I select on my clipboard moves at the top and moves everything else down, I'm sorry for being such a doozy, but is there a way to not make it do that and make it more like Windows? I searched for answers everywhere but couldn't find anything helping me out

[claydoh]

This *may* be a bug (or bugs), there have been some clipboard related ones in recent Plasma releases.
the need to use Ctrl V after selecting a Klipper item is definitely a known one.

Now, to make it more confusing:
Linux has a 'selection' buffer for highlighted text AND a 'clipboard' buffer for use with copy/paste (ctrl-c and ctrl-v).

In a normal stock Klipper setup, for your type of usage, try simply highlighting the text, then middle-mouse clicking to paste. This does not store anything in the Klipper, though. Highlighting new text replaces the previous contents in the 'selection' buffer.

If you enable the setting “keep the selection and the clipboard the same ” it will put these highlighted things in Klipper, but your Klipper history becomes mostly useless as every stray highlight gets stashed there.

I love this dual buffer thing, as I do a LOT of quick one-time quick highlight-then-middle-button-pastes as well as many things stored in the clipboard for repeated ctrl-v or meta-v usage. (Newer Plasma releases have added a saved bookmark feature, even.)