Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Pasting Clean Text.

Pasting Clean Text

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 5, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010


9

I paste a lot of text. (I mean a LOT of text.) When I am copying and pasting text within the same document, it is no problem. When I am copying text from other places, however, pasting that text into a Word document can have strange effects. This isn't a Word problem; it is something about the text I am copying and pasting that causes funky appearance of the text.

To get around this, I normally use the Paste Special capabilities of Word to make sure that the text I am about to paste will be added to the document as unformatted text. Of course, since I paste so much text, continually displaying the Home tab of the ribbon and using the Paste tool's options can be bothersome.

The solution, for me, was to create a very short macro that does the pasting I want—as unformatted text. The following macro, PasteClean, does just that:

Sub PasteClean()
    Selection.PasteSpecial Link:=False, _
      DataType:=wdPasteText, _
      Placement:= wdInLine, _
      DisplayAsIcon:=False
End Sub

To make this macro an even more valuable editing tool, I assigned it to a shortcut key. Now, when I want to paste a clean copy of whatever text is in the Clipboard, I simply invoke the shortcut key and the macro does the rest.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10624) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Pasting Clean Text.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Reloading Building Blocks

Building Blocks can be a powerful tool for document creation in Word. Saving your Building Blocks and reloading them into ...

Discover More

Adding Data Labels to Your Chart

Adding labels to a chart can make the information presented in the chart more understandable. Excel allows you to add ...

Discover More

Reversing Integer Values

Do you need to reverse a series of integer values, such as 5 becomes 1, 4 becomes 2, etc.? There are several ways you can ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Inconsistent Availability of Drag and Drop Editing

Some people really like the ability to drag and drop text as they edit. What do you do if the ability is only available ...

Discover More

Capitalizing the First Letter after a Quote Mark

The AutoCorrect feature of Word will automatically capitalize the first letter of sentences as you type, unless the ...

Discover More

Quickly Moving Text with the Mouse

Drag-and-drop editing is a handy feature when you love to use the mouse. There are two ways you can move text using the ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 2 + 5?

2024-12-02 12:23:20

Andrew

I do this by binding Word's "PasteTextOnly" command to the key of my choice.


2024-12-01 11:12:03

Paulo Dias da Costa

I use paste special via shortcuts: after copying the text, I press Alt, C, V, S, then choose “unformatted text” in the dialog box.


2021-02-05 14:41:02

Paulo Almeida

Correcting my last comment, what I really think it would be useful for me and others, but it seams not yet available, is a way to paste text "almost as clean text", not including paragraph style attributes from the original text, but preserving hypertext (with its embedded links) and character formating like Italic, Bold, Underscore, etc.


2021-02-05 14:38:46

Paulo Almeida

What I really thing it would be useful for me and others, but it seams not yet available, is a way to paste text "almost as clear text", not including paragraph style attributes from the original text, but preserving hypertext (with its embedded links) and character formating like Italic, Bold, Underscore, etc.


2016-07-19 20:33:32

David W

I use a free Windows utility PureText which works very well with Word and every other Windows application. Default hot-key is Windows-V but is configurable. http://stevemiller.net/puretext/


2016-07-19 11:15:26

Kevin

I do something similar in that I assigned a similar macro to CTRL+V to paste just the text and use the INSERT key to paste formatted text.


2016-07-19 11:01:44

Michael

I like the idea of pasting only text option but understand how activating the home tab can be an extra step.
You can also set defaults for the regular Paste command so that when you use the standard Ctrl+V you'll end up with text only as well. This is done using the "Set Default Paste..." option from the Paste Menu (or File... Options... Advanced).
The right click solution noted below works too or you can just create that button on the quick access toolbar (Paste and Keep Text Only). I prefer to set the Default Paste Option so I can use the keyboard paste command that I've used for years, decades...


2016-07-19 10:59:27

David Gardner

Alternatively, right-click where you want to paste and in the short-cut menu that displays, click the Keep Text Only icon.


2016-07-19 08:55:33

Henry Noble

To each his own, but I simply right-click to invoke the Paste Special option for plain text.


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.