Thanks to Alexander's comment on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/988251/comments/29, I was able to work out steps to reproduce the bug.
1. Open a Nautilus window. 2. Go to location with write permission 3. Select a file and try to rename. 4. When prompted to rename (filename becomes a text entry), open new tab. 5. Select a file, try to copy and paste. You will see that file is not copied and pasted. 6. Go back to original tab. If the file that was selected in step 3 is still selected, unselect it. 7. Try to copy and paste. It should work. 8. Try to rename again, and open new tab. 9. Close old tab, and try to copy and paste. It won't work, and there is no way to restore, except opening a new window. Detailed info is reported upstream at https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=742513 ** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #742513 https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=742513 -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to nautilus in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1322925 Title: Copy, paste stops working randomly in Ubuntu 14.04 nautilus Status in nautilus package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: The title says it. Since upgrade to 14.04, copy / cut / paste of files among various folders I have write rights on does not work most of the times. Using the terminal to copy / move does work normally. nautilus: Installed: 1:3.10.1-0ubuntu9.1 Candidate: 1:3.10.1-0ubuntu9.1 Version table: *** 1:3.10.1-0ubuntu9.1 0 500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/main i386 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status 1:3.10.1-0ubuntu8 0 500 http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main i386 Packages WORKAROUND: When the bug appears, you can close all instances of nautilus to restore normal behavior. Command line: killall nautilus To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1322925/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
