When you copy text from a web page, email, or another document and paste it into Word, the original formatting often comes along. This can include font styles, colors, spacing, hyperlinks, and background shading that clash with your current document design. The cause is that Word’s default paste behavior preserves the source formatting to maintain the original appearance. This article explains how to strip all formatting from pasted text using built-in paste options, keyboard shortcuts, and the Keep Text Only default setting.
Key Takeaways: How to Paste Without Formatting in Word
- Ctrl+V then Ctrl (Paste Options) > Keep Text Only: Strips all formatting from pasted text after a standard paste.
- Ctrl+Alt+V (Paste Special) > Unformatted Text: Opens a dialog to paste plain text without any source formatting.
- File > Options > Advanced > Cut, copy, and paste > Pasting from other programs > Keep Text Only: Sets the default paste behavior to always remove formatting from external sources.
How Word Handles Formatting During Paste
Word stores text in memory with its formatting attributes when you copy or cut content. The default paste behavior depends on the source of the copied text. For text copied from another Word document, Word preserves most formatting by default. For text from web browsers, email clients, or other programs, Word uses the Keep Source Formatting option as the default in most configurations. This is why pasted text often looks different from the surrounding document.
Word offers three main paste options through the Paste Options button that appears after you paste: Keep Source Formatting preserves the original appearance, Merge Formatting adapts the text to match the destination document’s style while keeping basic structure like bold and lists, and Keep Text Only removes all formatting and pastes the text in the default font and style of the destination paragraph. The Keep Text Only option is the one you need to strip all formatting completely.
No special prerequisites are required. These methods work in Word 2016, Word 2019, Word for Microsoft 365, and Word for the web. The steps are nearly identical across all versions, though the location of some settings may vary slightly in older releases.
Three Ways to Paste Text Without Formatting
Method 1: Use the Paste Options Button After Pasting
This is the fastest method when you have already pasted text and need to remove its formatting.
- Copy the source text
Select the text in your web browser, email, or other application and press Ctrl+C. - Paste the text into Word
Place the cursor where you want the text to appear and press Ctrl+V. The text appears with its original formatting. - Open the Paste Options menu
Look for the small clipboard icon with the word Paste that appears near the bottom-right of the pasted text. Click this icon to open the Paste Options dropdown menu. Alternatively, press the Ctrl key immediately after pasting to display the same menu. - Select Keep Text Only
In the dropdown menu, click the Keep Text Only icon, which looks like a clipboard with the letter A. Word removes all formatting from the pasted text and applies the default paragraph style of your document.
Method 2: Use Paste Special to Paste Unformatted Text
Paste Special gives you more control before the text is inserted. This method is useful when you want to avoid the extra step of undoing formatting after a standard paste.
- Copy the source text
Press Ctrl+C to copy the text from its original location. - Open the Paste Special dialog
In Word, go to the Home tab, click the dropdown arrow below the Paste button in the Clipboard group, and select Paste Special. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Alt+V. - Choose Unformatted Text
In the Paste Special dialog, select Unformatted Text from the list of options. Click OK. - Verify the result
Word pastes the text without any formatting. All font styles, colors, sizes, and hyperlinks are removed. The text uses the default font and style of the paragraph where it is inserted.
Method 3: Change the Default Paste Behavior to Always Keep Text Only
If you frequently paste text from external sources and always want it unformatted, you can change Word’s default setting. This eliminates the need to use Paste Options or Paste Special each time.
- Open Word Options
Click File > Options. - Navigate to the Advanced section
In the Word Options dialog, select Advanced from the left sidebar. - Locate the Cut, copy, and paste settings
Scroll down to the Cut, copy, and paste section. You will see several dropdown menus for different paste scenarios. - Set Pasting from other programs to Keep Text Only
In the dropdown next to Pasting from other programs, select Keep Text Only. You can also change Pasting within the same document and Pasting between documents if needed. - Click OK to save
Word now applies the Keep Text Only behavior by default when you paste text from external programs like web browsers or email clients.
Common Problems When Pasting Without Formatting
Paste Options Button Does Not Appear
The Paste Options button may be hidden if you have disabled the feature. To enable it, go to File > Options > Advanced. Under the Cut, copy, and paste section, check the box labeled Show Paste Options button when content is pasted. Click OK. The button now appears after each paste operation.
Keep Text Only Removes Line Breaks and Paragraphs
When you paste text from a web page, Keep Text Only often removes intentional line breaks, turning paragraphs into a single block of text. This happens because web pages use soft line breaks that are not recognized as paragraph marks by Word. To preserve paragraph structure, copy the text into a plain text editor like Notepad first, then copy from Notepad into Word. Notepad converts web formatting into standard line breaks.
Hyperlinks Are Not Removed
In some versions of Word, using Keep Text Only may still leave the hyperlink text underlined and blue, though the link itself is removed. To remove the hyperlink formatting entirely, select the pasted text and press Ctrl+Shift+F9. This command removes all hyperlinks from the selected text while keeping the text intact.
Default Setting Does Not Apply to All Paste Scenarios
The default paste setting you change in Word Options only applies to specific scenarios. For example, Pasting from other programs does not affect pasting from another Word document. If you paste text from another Word file, you still need to use Paste Options or Paste Special to strip formatting. Adjust the Pasting between documents setting in the same Options dialog if you want that scenario to also use Keep Text Only.
| Method | Keyboard Shortcut | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Paste Options Button | Ctrl+V then Ctrl | After a standard paste when you need to remove formatting from one paste operation |
| Paste Special | Ctrl+Alt+V | Before pasting, to control formatting in advance for a single paste |
| Default Setting Change | None (set in Options) | For all future pastes from external programs when you always want plain text |
You can now paste text into Word without unwanted formatting using the Paste Options button, Paste Special, or a permanent default setting change. For the most consistent results, set the default paste behavior to Keep Text Only for external sources. If you need to preserve paragraph breaks, use Notepad as an intermediate step. An advanced tip is to create a macro that applies Keep Text Only to the current selection with a single keyboard shortcut like Alt+8, which saves time for repetitive paste operations.