Clear Formatting in Word

June 22, 2004 7:12 AM

How can I get Microsoft word to paste things as plain text by default? Why would I want the formatting of the website I'm copying my homework from anyway?
posted by Orange Goblin to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

I don't think there exists a way to do it by default... however I know that you can (at least in Word 2002/2003) see a little ... thing ... (I think its supposed to look like a clipboard) in the bottom right corner of what you pasted, you can click on it and check "Keep Source Formatting". That's what I do every time, it can be a pain but easier than reformatting everything yourself.
posted by ac at 7:13 AM on June 22, 2004

You can also customize the tollbars to include "paste special." It is then a fairly easy two-step process: Click on Paste Special and choose unformated text.
posted by rtimmel at 7:18 AM on June 22, 2004

Response by poster: Bah. I can't be the only one who gets pissed off by this. Is there someway I could remap ctrl+v to Paste Special?
posted by Orange Goblin at 7:25 AM on June 22, 2004

In Mac OS X, it's a snap to remap the shortcuts. System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. In Windows XP...
posted by zpousman at 7:29 AM on June 22, 2004

I usually keep a text editor open. copy, paste into that, select all (CTRL+A), copy, paste to final destination. It's a little quicker then Paste Special if you do it all with the CTRL key commands. There has to be a registry hack for this. Someone please think of the x% of users who don't want all that shitty MS HTML clogging things up.
posted by yerfatma at 7:29 AM on June 22, 2004

Shift Paste pastes in plain text.
posted by riffola at 7:48 AM on June 22, 2004

Response by poster: What do you mean by Shift Paste? Ctrl+Shift+V? Doesn't seem to do anything for me.
posted by Orange Goblin at 7:52 AM on June 22, 2004

Create a macro in normal.dot as follows (alt-F11, insert module):

Sub pasteText()    Selection.PasteSpecial DataType:=wdPasteTextEnd Sub

Then go to Tools > Customize... > Keyboard... , select the macro you just created and assign it to ctrl-v. Done!
posted by cbrody at 7:54 AM on June 22, 2004

In Word 2000:

Tools > Customize > Keyboard (button)

You could select Edit... under Categories and change EditPasteSpecial to be Ctrl+v and change EditPaste to be something else.

Also, a Notepad replacement program like NoteTab can act as a "paste board." Anything you copy will be automatically pasted into a text file. All you have to do is copy again from NoteTab and paste.
posted by ALongDecember at 7:56 AM on June 22, 2004

Install Text-cleanup, set it to clean text on copy automatically.
posted by signal at 8:02 AM on June 22, 2004

Sorry, I thought it was Ctrl+Shift+V, you can assign Crtl+Alt+V to Paste Special using Word's keyboard customizer.
posted by riffola at 8:12 AM on June 22, 2004

For what I most often use Word for, this is THE most annoying default behavior so the past special unformatted text macro is a life saver. Also, the pasted text inherits the style of wherever it's pasted, also a good thing.
posted by turbodog at 9:19 AM on June 22, 2004

Should you use OS X, you may find Plain Clip helpful. I've got it tied to a key combo, and it's made my life much easier. And it's free!
posted by aladfar at 10:47 AM on June 22, 2004

Create a macro in normal.dot as follows ....

cbrody is my new hero!
posted by eckeric at 9:01 AM on June 23, 2004

Function cbrody
cbrody = jesus
return
posted by ac at 7:48 PM on June 23, 2004