How To Copy Text Without The Background

Yous probably copy and paste multiple times per 24-hour interval. And while doing so is an extremely handy office, i of its biggest annoyances is that pasting unremarkably brings along any special formatting—like hyperlinks, bold and italics, and different fonts—from the original text. Catch some text from the spider web, and you'll often find that information technology keeps its original mode when pasted in your document.

We'll show y'all how to copy and paste without formatting, using several easy tricks.

ane. Paste Without Formatting Using Keyboard Shortcuts

If y'all demand to copy and paste plain text often, y'all should know the defended methods for doing so. Thankfully, there are efficient methods bachelor in the form of app and keyboard shortcuts.

On Windows, while it'south not universal, many apps support the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V to paste without formatting. These include Chrome, Firefox, and Evernote.

To paste as plain text on a Mac, yous tin use the somewhat cumbersome shortcut Choice + Cmd + Shift + Five to paste without formatting. This is a arrangement-broad shortcut, so different Windows, it should work everywhere. Technically, this shortcut pastes and matches the formatting, simply this has the same effect of removing the original formatting.

2. How to Paste Without Formatting in Microsoft Function

There's ane major exception to these shortcuts: Microsoft Part. You'll probably want to paste plain text into your documents most of the time, making the lack of a dedicated shortcut a problem. Thankfully, in that location is an like shooting fish in a barrel way to paste without formatting in Microsoft Word and other Part apps.

The basic method is to first paste the text into your Word document as normal. Once you lot've washed so, look for the little tooltip that appears near the text.

Click on it (or hitting Ctrl to utilize keyboard shortcuts) and yous'll have three options:

Keep Source Formatting is the default and will keep the text exactly as y'all copied it. (After opening the tooltip with Ctrl, press K to select it.)
Merge Formatting volition make the text yous're pasting match the text around information technology. This will keep bones formatting like bold and bullet points, but changes the font to match what's already in the document. (M is the shortcut fundamental for this.)
Go on Text Just pastes in plain text, stripping all formatting. (Utilise T as the keyboard shortcut for this selection.)

If yous don't similar the above keyboard shortcuts or don't desire to use your mouse to select the tooltip, there's some other Give-and-take shortcut to paste without formatting. Use Ctrl + Alt + Five (or Cmd + Alt + V on a Mac) to open the Paste Special window. Here, select Unformatted Text to paste in apparently text.

Finally, if you'd like, yous tin can set the default paste option in Word to ever paste in plain text. Head to File > Options and select the Advanced tab on the left. Here, look under the Cut, copy, and paste header for default pasting settings.

Y'all can change your preference for diverse forms of pasting; Pasting from other programs will take care of text copied from your browser or other apps. Gear up this as Continue Text Only to paste in apparently text.

3. How to Always Paste Without Formatting on Mac

Have a Mac and desire to paste without formatting every time? You can ready a elementary override in System Preferences to customize your Mac'southward keyboard and avert the finger gymnastics that the default shortcut requires.

Head to Apple menu > System Preferences and select Keyboard. Switch to the Shortcuts tab, then choose App Shortcuts from the list on the left. You'll and so need to click the Plus icon below the box to create a new shortcut.

In the Application field, select All Applications, since y'all want to copy without formatting everywhere on your Mac. Enter Paste and Match Style for the Card Title box, followed by Cmd + 5 in the Keyboard shortcut box.

Click Add and yous're all set up. Now the default Cmd + Five shortcut should ever paste without formatting. Because of varying menu names, it might non work in every single app, but should have care of most.

Just keep in heed that after doing this, you'll need to apply Edit > Paste if you ever desire to paste with formatting. To become effectually this, you can instead cull a unique key combination for your paste without formatting shortcut. You'll just take to call up it and brand sure it doesn't clash with other shortcuts your apps may use.

4. Paste as Evidently Text Everywhere on Windows

If you're a Windows user jealous of the above workaround for Mac users, don't despair. In that location's a tiny Windows tool, called PureText, that gives yous a new shortcut to e'er paste without formatting.

Even ameliorate, the tool is available on the Microsoft Store for easy installation and automated updates. After yous install it, right-click its icon in your Organization Tray and choose Options to configure a few settings.

By default, the combo PureText uses to paste without formatting is Win + V. If you'd adopt to use something else, you can set a different shortcut here. Otherwise, make sure yous have Paste the converted text into the currently selected window checked, which makes the shortcut paste for you instead of only converting.

Y'all'll likely want to disable Play a sound, equally at that place'south no reason to hear an annoying chime every time y'all paste. Make sure Automatically run PureText when Windows starts is selected and so you don't have to outset information technology manually, and you lot're all set.

Information technology'due south a uncomplicated utility, but it makes the activeness of pasting without formatting on Windows 10 or Windows 11 incredibly easy.

Paste Without Formatting on Windows 11

If you lot're using Windows 11, you lot tin can use the born clipboard manager to paste without formatting. It takes a few extra clicks compared to the above method, so it'due south not perfect, just notwithstanding worth knowing about.

First, make sure you're using the improved clipboard manager in Windows 11 by going to Settings > System > Clipboard. Here, toggle on Clipboard history to enable the born manager. Now, y'all can printing Win + V to admission anything you lot've copied in the past.

On the card that appears, click the three-dot button next to the item that y'all desire to paste without formatting. This volition show some new icons, including a Paste as text icon that shows a clipboard and the letter A. Click this to paste while removing the formatting.

5. Re-create Without Formatting Using a Text Editor

This is a clunky method that we include just then you're enlightened of it. In well-nigh cases, y'all'll probable find one of the above options more convenient.

Pasting without formatting is only an issue when y'all paste into an app that supports special text styles. Thus, one archetype style to re-create and paste without formatting is to only paste the text into Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac) first.

TextEdit on macOS uses rich text past default, then you lot'll need to printing Cmd + Shift + T to convert the document to apparently text after pasting. You lot tin can set TextEdit to employ plain text files all the fourth dimension by going to TextEdit > Preferences and checking the Plainly text box.

These programs are basic text editors, so they don't work with diverse fonts and rich text like bold and italics. Only copy the text yous desire, then paste it into Notepad or TextEdit. Information technology will appear every bit plain text there; copy this and paste information technology to the last destination.

It's not the nigh efficient mode to paste without formatting, but it doesn't require you lot to download any software and works reliably. To make this a fleck faster, you can instead paste the text into another plain text box that'due south more readily attainable, like your browser's address bar.

Paste Without Formatting Every Time

We've looked at the best means to copy and paste without formatting on both Windows and Mac. Whether you use the system-wide solutions or opt for built-in shortcuts, y'all can easily choose when to paste in plain text. This saves time and helps you strip out useless formatting in 1 step.