One of the biggest frustrations when trying to copy/paste anything in your word processor is text formatting. Often times, you just want to copy and paste plain text from websites without bringing in all the formatting. However, the default option in your browser does not allow you to do this. If this has always bothered you and you want to put an end to this ordeal once and for all, you are in the right place. Because today we will show you how to copy/paste plain text without formatting on Windows 10 and Mac.
Copy/Paste Plain Text Without Formatting On Your Computer
In this article, we’ve included custom keyboard shortcuts, apps and browser extensions for pasting plain text, and other methods to copy/paste text without formatting. We’ll also show you native options for pasting text without formatting in Word, the world’s most popular word processor. Without further ado, let’s take a look at several ways you can copy/paste plain text without formatting on your Mac or Windows 10 computer.
Method 1: Using Keyboard Shortcuts
Using a keyboard shortcut is by far the easiest way to paste plain text without formatting on your computer. To do this, press Ctrl+Shift+V to remove formatting Instead of Ctrl+V on Windows. This method works in all major browsers, for example when typing in WordPress and most applications.
on Mac, press Command+Option+Shift+V to ‘paste and match formatting’ in a document. However, this shortcut does not work in MS Word, which uses a native method to paste plain text into the editor.
Method 2: Using Local Option in MS Word
You can paste text into MS Word without formatting using a special ‘Paste’ option on the ribbon. After copying the target text with formatting, press the Paste button on the MS Word ribbon. You get three options: ‘Preserve Source Formatting’, ‘Merge Formatting’ and ‘Keep Text Only’ As shown below.
The first preserves the original formatting, while the second only retains basic formatting such as bold letters and bullet points, but changes the font to fit your document. The third option pastes the plain text into Word, stripped of all formatting.
Method 3: Using Browser Extensions
There are multiple extensions for Firefox and Chrome that remove all formatting from selected text before copy/paste. I use in Firefox Copy Plain Text (free), if the best in Chrome Copy as Plain Text (free). Both work pretty much the same by adding a ‘Copy Plain Text’ or ‘Copy as Plain Text’ option to the browser’s right-click context menu. In editors like WordPress, the extensions also add a ‘Paste Plain Text’ option.
Using browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox is probably the easiest and cleanest way to copy/paste plain text online. They offer the option to keep the original formatting using the default ‘Copy’ option in your browser’s right-click context menu, or to copy only the plain text using the ‘Copy Plain Text’ option. They are also configurable and allow users to set up keyboard shortcuts to copy/paste plain text into their browser.
Method 4: Using Third-Party Software on Windows
If you are using a Windows PC, PureText (Free). The easiest way to use PureText is to use the hotkey to paste text instead of using the standard Ctrl+V shortcut. The default Hotkey for pasting plain text is Windows key + V. [1], but you can change it to your liking. To configure PureText, right-click on the tray icon and select ‘Options’ from the drop-down menu. From the options window you can set the program to run on every boot so you don’t have to start it manually [2].
Method 5: Create Your Own Shortcut on Mac
On Mac, you can use System Preferences to customize the default copy/paste options. To get started, go to: Apple menu > System Preferences and choose Keyboard. Move to Shortcuts tab and select App Shortcuts from the left pane. Later “+Click the ” icon at the bottom of the box to create a new shortcut to copy/paste plain text without formatting. After that, write’Paste and Match StyleEnter the ‘Menu Title’ field and create your own hotkeys. keyboard shortcut Box.
make sure you choose All apps It’s in the first space to make this shortcut work in all compatible apps on that device. Finally, click on Add Press to set your new keyboard shortcut. You can now paste text without formatting in most apps on your Mac. Once this default action is enabled, you will need to use Edit > Paste to paste with formatting.
Method 6: Using Notepad on Windows and TextEdit on Mac
this The cumbersome, most time consuming and not the most user friendly way to copy/paste plain text on your computer. It’s pretty simple though. Copy the target text from anywhere, paste it into Notepad on your Windows 10 machine, and then copy that Notepad text to paste into your document. It removes all text formatting but is a two-step process.
On Mac, you can use TextEdit for the same trick, but first you need to set the app to use plain text. TextEdit > Preferences and to control Plain Text Box. You can now paste any text into TextEdit to strip it out of all formatting. You can then copy/paste this snippet as plain text anywhere.
Easily Copy/Paste Text Without Formatting On Your Windows or Mac
Besides the methods described above, many online document editors such as Google Docs and CMS applications such as WordPress also offer native options for copying/pasting text without text formatting. So no matter what your use case, you will always find a way to copy and paste text online or offline without formatting. So go ahead, try some of the methods described above and see which one tickles your taste buds.
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