Because we use styled text in so many places in macOS (including when copying something from a web page), it’s easy to wind up frustrated when you want to paste it into a document or an email without carrying along its original (or a similar) font, type size, italics or Roman, indents, bullet list items, or other elements.
Here are several ways to copy styled text and then paste it without formatting.
Use the Paste and Match Style menu item in Apple apps. Most Apple software that supports adding text lets you choose Edit > Paste and Match Style, which strips most formatting from the text on the clipboard and matches whatever style is in place at the insertion point at which you paste. However, while it removes some styling, it doesn’t remove all of it.
In Microsoft Word, use one of several paste commands. Word offers Edit > Paste and Match Formatting, similar to Pages and other Apple software. But it also has the Edit > Paste Special set of options, which includes Unformatted Text. This strips all rich-text attributes.
Use a text-only editor to paste, then copy the results. Many apps don’t support rich-text formatting. Pasting text into one of those apps strips all styles and fonts. You can then copy that same section of text, and it’s unstyled. Ironically, the macOS-bundled TextEdit doesn’t offer an option to edit…just the text. Instead, try BBEdit. (While it downloads as a 30-day free trial for the paid version, after 30 days it remains free to use, just with a more restrained set of text-editing features.)
In an app, press Ctrl + Shift + V to paste the web address. If you're pasting into an app or website in Microsoft Edge, you can also right-click, select Paste as on the context menu, and then select Plain text from the sub-menu. When pastePlain option is enabled, Froala WYSIWYG HTML Editor filters the pasted content and keeps only plain text by removing all its rich formatting.
Get Pastebot. The Pastebot utility from Tapbots received a five-mouse review from me in 2016, and it remains a constant part of my daily routine. You can set a keyboard shortcut to paste the current clipboard as plain, unformatted text, something I do 50 times a day. And you can set other shortcuts or use a filter feature to reformat text on the clipboard before it’s pasted.
This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by a Macworld reader.
Ask Mac 911
We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, we’re always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com including screen captures as appropriate, and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we don’t reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.
The plain text pasting feature is implemented by the PastePlainText plugin which is a part of the Clipboard plugin.
Hand Cleaner Original Formula Plain Paste Banana Scent Oil Base. By default, Word preserves the original formatting when you paste content into a document using CTRL+V, the Pastebutton, or right-click + Paste. To change the default, follow these steps. Go to File Options Advanced. Under Cut, copy, and paste, select the down arrow for the setting to change. When you highlight a bunch of text and press Ctrl+C, you are copying not only the content of text but the format of these texts as well into the clipboard. Then when you want to paste them into another application, you are pasting both the content and the format all together at the same time.
It detects the Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V keystroke during the paste and causes the pasted text to inherit the styles of the content it was pasted into. In this sense, the feature can also be described as “pasting without formatting” — the source formatting of the pasted text gets replaced with the target formatting of the text it was pasted into.
Pasting plain text with a double line break will turn the break into a paragraph. A single line break will instead be turned into a soft break upon pasting.
# Demo
Paste plain text between the styled paragraphs below using the Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V to test the style inheritance. Paste without the Shift modifier to retain unstyled text. You can copy this very paragraph or one from the demo for convenience.
On emphasis
In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. This may include text in italics, bold, underlined or strikethrough words or whole paragraphs.
Italic type
Italic type is a cursive font based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, italics normally slant slightly to the right. One manual of English usage described italics as 'the print equivalent of underlining'; in other words, underscore in a manuscript directs a typesetter to use italic.
Italics are a way to emphasize key points in a printed text, to identify many types of creative works, to cite foreign words or phrases, or, when quoting a speaker, a way to show which words they stressed.
Bold type
A bold font weight makes the letters thicker than the surrounding text. It adds certain blackness to the type. Bold strongly stands out from the regular text, and is often used to highlight keywords important to the text content.
For example, printed dictionaries often use boldface for their keywords, and the names of entries can conventionally be marked in bold.
Underlined type
Professional Western typesetting usually does not employ lines under letters for emphasis within running text because it is considered too distracting.
Underlining is, however, often used with typewriters, in handwriting, and with some non-alphabetic scripts. It is also used for secondary emphasis, i.e. marks added by the reader and not the author.
# Related features
CKEditor 5 supports a wider range of paste features, including:
- Paste from Word – Paste content from Microsoft Word and maintain the original structure and formatting.
- Paste from Google Docs – Paste content from Google Docs, maintaining the original formatting and structure.
# Installation
This feature is required by the clipboard plugin and is enabled by default in all official builds. The installation instructions are for developers interested in building their own custom rich-text editor.
To add this feature to your rich-text editor, install the @ckeditor/ckeditor5-clipboard package:
Then add the Clipboard plugin to your plugin list:
The PastePlainText plugin will activate along with the clipboard plugin.
# Support for other applications
You can find more information regarding compatibility with other applications in this ticket.
Plain Pastel Pink Hoodie
If you think that support for any of the applications needs improvements, please add 👍 and comments in the following issues:
Plain Pastel Colors
- Support pasting from Excel.
- Support pasting from Libre Office.
- Support pasting from Pages.
Feel free to open a new feature request for other similar applications, too!