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How can I 'Paste as Text ONLY' in Word 2021?

Anonymous
2024-06-24T11:18:34+00:00

As a consultant, I have struggled with this limitation since Word 1.0, now I'm on 2021 and it's still an issue. (Yes, I'm ancient!)

How can I 'Paste as Text ONLY' in Word 2021?

Maybe I missed learning a feature, who knows? Is there any way?

It used to be a bit better in 2013 with the 'Paste as Text Only' feature but I haven't seen it since then.

I've set my default paste as "Paste as Text" in Word Settings correctly and I manually choose "Paste as Text" every time and still it pastes more than just the text! So I have to 'Clear Formatting'.

In this case, the only 2 workarounds I have found in more than 25 years are:

  1. Paste the selected text into a new .txt document, save and close, then re-open and copy-paste from the .txt into the Word doc.
  2. Use the 'Clear Formatting' option in Styles each and every time after your paste, and cross your fingers that it doesn't affect your style sheet.

***Moved from Microsoft 365 and Office / Word / For business / Windows***

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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  1. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-05T18:35:06+00:00

    I recommend that you set the font you use the most as the default for the (target) document. The quickest way to accomplish this is by using the Font dialog box (Ctrl+D). Select the font and click Set as Default. This modifies both the Normal style font and the font in the Set Defaults tab of the Manage Styles dialog box. Later, if/when you are prompted to save your template, choose to do so.

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  1. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-06-24T22:38:14+00:00

    Sometimes, to force Word to honor the selected default paste format, you have to instruct the program to show the Paste Options button as well. You'll find the latter option at File > Options > Advanced.

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  2. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-04T08:49:12+00:00

    Oh, The second paste into the previously cleared paragraph did correctly have my Normal Font. What does this mean?

    This suggests that the pre-existing text in your document contains local style overrides—what Word refers to as direct formatting.

    When you paste as unformatted text, the text adjusts to the formatting at the insertion point. This works better if the "target" text at the insertion point is using styles consistently, without any direct formatting present.

    To remove any direct formatting in a text paragraph which is formatted in a heading style (or in any style, really), you can select the text and press Ctrl+SpaceBar (removes direct character/font formatting) and then press Ctrl+Q (removes direct paragraph formatting).

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  3. Stefan Blom 339K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-06-25T09:25:16+00:00

    Have you modified the defaults as well for pasting? The screen shot below exemplifies with setting "Keep Text Only" as the new default for "Pasting within the same document."

    Image

    Note that pasting in plain text format means that the text adjusts to the settings at the insertion point in the target Word document. Any italic or bold in the target document will be preserved.

    Of course, any rich text, such as images and tables, will be ignored when you past in plain text format.

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  4. Charles Kenyon 166.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-06-24T17:05:52+00:00

    I am not experiencing this, and never have.

    Try using Paste Special > Text only.

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