Why does 'paste' option change to 'autofill' on iPhone 13?

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Why does 'paste' option change to 'autofill' on iPhone 13?

I have a relatively new iPhone 13 (bought this year) I want to know why, out of the blue the "paste" option just becomes the "autofill" option instead? I copy a large field of text to paste it into whatsapp or instagram (not in a password field) but I am not given the option to paste, only autofill. Surely this is a glitch? It happens just every now and then, maybe once every two weeks. but infuriatingly seems to get stuck for a while so I cant shut down and reopen the app, or even reboot the whole phone and come back to paste. Even when I switch off the Autofill password setting for a bit it still only offers me autofill.. Is there a fix for this issue?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: "Autofill" instead of "paste"

Posted on Nov 16, 2025 11:27 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 18, 2025 12:25 AM in response to DanSheldon

Tap the arrow (›) on the menu

If the menu is too crowded, Paste may be on the next “page” of the menu.

iOS sometimes deprioritizes Paste when the clipboard contains a large block of text, because it assumes you might be trying to autofill something structured (like an address or contact).

See the pic below

Apple added a new Autofill button to the text‑editing menu in recent iOS versions. It appears in the same row as Paste, Select, Select All, etc. Users have reported that this new button sometimes pushes Paste out of view, especially when:

The text field is small or single‑line
The system thinks the field might accept autofill (contacts, passwords, etc.)
The menu is trying to fit all options in a limited space

This matches what other iPhone users have described: the new Autofill button appears “next to paste, select, etc.” and disrupts the usual muscle memory.

So the issue isn’t that your iPhone thinks you’re in a password field — it’s that the UI is rearranging the menu.

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