I read again and again many times this solution about Greasemonkey and scripts. I do not trust this solution. Just for security reason I do not recommend to add any script and greasemonkey. Οf course you can do anything you want but you will do it with your own risk. I prefer Mozilla to move his butt to find a solution. It it very strange that they didn't find (or... want ) a solution. The problem is known some versions back !

Hi Safereader, you are correct that scripts are very powerful and need to be checked to make sure they are trustworthy. As a person who writes userscripts for himself and has posted some on the Greasy Fork site, I am comfortable doing that, but I agree that people who are not familiar with add-ons need to select them cautiously.

Hi Safereader, one alternative to using Greasemonkey is to inject the bypass script into the page only when needed. You can do this by saving it as a bookmarklet (a bookmarklet is a bookmark consisting of JavaScript). Here's how:

(1) Select and copy this JavaScript code:

javascript:void(addEventListener('paste', function(e){e.stopPropagation()}, true));

(2) Right-click (or on Mac: Ctrl+click) the Bookmarks Toolbar or Bookmarks Menu near where you want the button and choose New Bookmark

(3) Paste the script code in the Location box

(4) Type something in the Name box like YTPaste and click Add Bookmark

When you click the button, it will inject the script into the page, blocking the site's paste interception scripts. After that, you should be able to paste into the comment box.

I'll break down the script for you:

javascript: ... => this protocol informs Firefox that the bookmark is actually a script

void( ... ); => this prevents Firefox from trying to load the script as a web address

addEventListener('paste', function(e){ ... }, true) => this instructs Firefox to take action when you paste into the page (addEventListener on MDN)

e.stopPropagation() => this instructs Firefox not to pass the paste event to any other elements/scripts in the page, so Firefox just proceeds with pasting as normal (stopPropagation on MDN)

Jscher, I'm a little confused about this. You mentioned "overriding youtube's paste interception script"? Does this mean that YouTube have started tryint to prevent people from pasting text into YouTube comments? I Googled it but couldn't find anything about that, and it wouldn't explain why the problem only seems to be on Firefox.

Can you explain what is the problem here? Is it just a Firefox bug?

Hi MartyJames, the page intercepts the paste command and rather than doing what it was designed to do (clean the text? enhance the links?), it just ends up doing nothing.

It could be a Firefox bug -- it's certainly a difference from Google Chrome -- but if it's a flaw in Firefox, someone needs to find where it's failing in order to get it fixed. Google's scripts are very complicated, so I can't personally figure out what YouTube is doing.

The idea behind the userscript or bookmarklet is to override the paste interception: the script prevents the paste event from being detected by Google's script, so Firefox just pastes normally.

According to the page "www.youtube.com - Pasting YouTube comments works in Chrome, but not Firefox, IE, or Edge" Google said this about the problem on Sept. 14th:

I've been in communication with the YouTube comments PM and we've got a bug tracking the work for this. I'll update once the bug is closed.

It's frustrating that this is unsolved two months later.

Thanks jscher. For me, the really nasty one was Facebook, which works now thankfully. Facebook was going haywire and I was posting stuff that I didn't want to post. YouTube at least just won't let you paste anything. It doesn't glitch, so I can live with that until this gets resolved. :)

Sadly, it's not working for me. Perhaps a restart is required? Is there a way to restart? I have a ton of windows open and I hate having to shut it down. I've resorted to killing the process to force a crash so I can restore the crash to get my windows and tabs back.

jscher2000 said

I just want to confirm that GrayFace's script works -- it blocks Google's paste interception script without requiring any settings changes in Firefox: GrayFace said

Here's a selective fix for YouTube: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/12433-fix-paste-on-youtube
You need to install Scriptish or Greasemonkey first.

You can install the Greasemonkey extension from the Add-ons site here: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/

When installing user scripts, be cautious and check reviews as you would with other kinds of add-ons.

Hi apb1963, I think you have to restart to complete the installation of Greasemonkey.

Is there a way to restart? I have a ton of windows open and I hate having to shut it down. I've resorted to killing the process to force a crash so I can restore the crash to get my windows and tabs back.

Well, I do think there are add-ons for that... But when you start up normally, you also should be able to use History > Restore Previous Session. In order to avoid losing windows, don't use the red X or the Windows "Close All Windows" approach. Instead, use the menu, either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
• (menu bar) File > Exit

Then all windows should be preserved in the session history file.

Actually, with all the stuff I have to test, I've switched Firefox to automatically resuming my previous session. (Startup, home page, tabs, and download settings)

jscher2000 said

Hi apb1963, I think you have to restart to complete the installation of Greasemonkey.

Thanks for your help. Greasemonkey is A-OK. However the script still doesn't work for me as I still can't paste to youtube.

Also, thanks for letting me know about the Restore Previous Session, I was unaware of that.

Hi apb1963, when you're on YouTube, and you click the little drop-triangle to the right of the monkey toolbar button, does it show checkmarks next to both of the following:

• Enabled
• Fix paste on YouTube

In that case, the script should be working.

That was the final obstacle! It wasn't checked. I ticked it, and then had to restart firefox. Problem solved. Thank you!

jscher2000 said

Hi apb1963, when you're on YouTube, and you click the little drop-triangle to the right of the monkey toolbar button, does it show checkmarks next to both of the following:

• Enabled
• Fix paste on YouTube

In that case, the script should be working.

Hopefully this will be fixed in the future.

How To Enable Copy and Paste Comments On Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwy5SL1KZhA

pcguy said

MY question is why do we have to install Greasemonkey and a script to fix an issue in Firefox of which neither of the other two browsers I tried had an issue. Lately Firefox is trying my patience.

because it's not necessarily a Firefox issue. Chrome and browsers on Chromium are much more forgiving in any code errors. Firefox is kinda strict. I'm not entirely sure that this is not Firefox's fault, however from looking at the code that causes this, I can tell that it's a bit crappy, and from my experience, it's usually the website's fault. Especially that Youtube had past problems with Firefox, like the Google+ notifications opening under the video. Youtube front-end is a nightmare. I don't know who made it that way, but they should never program anything again.

I have Facebook comment glitches, VERY ANNOYED ME! when I change dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled - As it says in TOP of these topic! So is it some another solution for paste Youtube comments!

zemix89 said

I have Facebook comment glitches, VERY ANNOYED ME! when I change dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled - As it says in TOP of these topic! So is it some another solution for paste Youtube comments!

I found for myself next workaround 1) Install Clipple - https://addons.mozilla.org/ru/firefox/addon/clipple/ addon 2) when you copy some text, you can easily paste them on YT comments by right click, screenshot http://i.imgur.com/0JyQGDg.jpg Text pastes normal.

jscher2000 said

Hi MartyJames, another workaround is to use an add-on. Specifically, a user script that blocks YouTube's paste interception script. This involves a combination of two installs: (1) The Greasemonkey extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/greasemonkey/ (2) This userscript: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/12433-fix-paste-on-youtube

Also this method very nice! Thank you Due to this method - i have no problems with Facebook pasting! Again Thank you! Its better than changing in about:config I think jscher2000 this is the best answer un this topic as a solution! It should be raised in the topic hat!

Or, till Firefox team fix youtube copy paste problem, Install and use the UC browser. FASTER and it use LESS RAM from Firefox and Google Chrome. Is faster than Opera. http://www.ucweb.com/ For all platforms ! Windows, Windows phone, Android, iPhone, Java, iPad. I use it now and saved me !

1N07 said

shobz said

What does "I can't" mean? You cannot paste the previously copied text or you can paste it but unable to save/post it because YouTube rejects it? Also always mention any error or message that you see! Better details and more accurate information means better answers. I know for a fact that YouTube is really picky and doesn't like some of the special characters (symbols above the numbers). Also, not sure where you copy the text from but there could be some hidden HTML, XML or some other type of code included with the plain text. Best thing to check for that possibility would be to paste whatever you want to put in your reply in a new text (Notepad) document first. The highlight and copy the same text within Notepad and then try pasting it in YouTube to see if it works.

He meant exactly what he said: he cant paste comments into youtube. I cant either. There are no errors or messages. You also dont need Notepad.; you can type right into the address field -as well as any other text field on a page- and copy from there. Let's keep things simple and try not to complicate matters. In any case, I'm going to try the solution of about:config and see what happens.