Control the formatting when you paste text

Question

I'm using WORD for Mac version 16.88 (2024). I want to control the formatting when I paste text, such as "use source formatting."

The information from Microsoft is

1. Go to File > Options > Advanced.

My version of WORD does NOT have "options" under "file." How do I access this so that I can control the formatting when pasting text.

Thanks!

Answer 1

As Stefan replied, those options do not exist in Mac Word. They were not eliminated, they never were included. The only Paste Options Preferences pertain to pasting/inserting pictures which provide for choosing a default Text Wrap style. The default behavior is determined at the design level & may have been changed in response to Feedback submitted by users.

On a different plane, there are Preferences in Word> Preferences> Edit which provide Settings for the Smart Cut & Paste function. Although you may find them useful I doubt they are what you are looking for.

In Mac Word keyboard shortcuts are assigned to several paste options & you can assign keyboard shortcuts to the others as well as some which are lesser known. For example, I have assigned Control+Option+V to the PasteSourceFormatting command & Shift+Command+V is assigned by default to PasteTextOnly.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about that, but appreciate your input. For example, the paste format in my document recently changed itself (or I hit something by accident that changed it). It must be under some control then. I am currently using WORD for Mac, and there were instructions for changing paste options in another/different/previous version -- but I don't see those on my current version of WORD for Mac. So, if you are correct, they eliminated that function suddenly, while making paste format subject to change on its own, and no longer in the user's control. That just seems highly unlikely, but I guess with MS anything is possible...

Answer 3

File > Options only exists in Word for Windows.

As far as I know, it isn't possible to specify default paste options in Word for Mac. You should be able to make use of the Paste Options when pasting, though.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, I don't know Word for Mac sufficiently well to comment on any changed settings.

Have you had any luck with the Paste Options?