Most paste failures come down to one of a small handful of causes. Here's how to work through them.
"Nothing happens when I paste"
First, confirm there's actually an image on your clipboard — not a file path, not HTML, not plain text. A quick test: paste into any other app that displays images (a chat app, an editor with image preview). If that also shows nothing, the clipboard doesn't actually contain image data — go back and re-copy the image itself, not a link to it.
Permission was denied, or never prompted
Browsers ask for clipboard permission on first use. If you accidentally denied it, you'll need to reset the permission manually — click the padlock/site-info icon in your address bar, find "Clipboard" in the permissions list, and set it back to "Ask" or "Allow." A simple reload afterward re-triggers the prompt.
It works on desktop but not on your phone
This is expected, not a bug — mobile browsers restrict clipboard image access far more than desktop ones. See our browser compatibility guide for exactly what's supported where. Desktop is the reliable option for this workflow.
Works in one browser but not another
Safari before macOS 14 has notably weaker clipboard image support than Chrome/Edge/Firefox. If you're on an older macOS version, try Chrome or Firefox as a quick check before assuming something else is wrong.
Pasting through a remote desktop session
RDP and VNC clients handle clipboard sync themselves, separately from the browser. If image paste fails specifically inside a remote session but works locally, check that clipboard sharing is enabled in the remote desktop client's settings — it's frequently off by default.
The downloaded file looks different than expected
If colors or quality look off after download, check the format and quality slider you had selected — JPG at a low quality setting will visibly soften sharp edges and introduce compression artifacts that aren't present in the original. Switch to PNG or raise the quality setting and re-download; nothing about the original pasted image is altered, so you can re-export as many times as you like.