Disable Formatting When Pasting Text in Word 2021

Microsoft 365 and Office
1

I've been dealing with a frustrating limitation in Word since its early days, and it's still a problem in the 2021 version.

Is there a way to paste text only in Word 2021, without any formatting?

I've checked the settings and made sure the default paste is set to "Paste as Text", but it still doesn't work as expected. I have to manually choose "Paste as Text" every time, and even then, it pastes more than just the text. The only solution is to use "Clear Formatting" afterwards.

After years of searching, I've found only two workarounds:

1. Paste the 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 every time after pasting, and hope it doesn't affect the style sheet.

2

Here’s how you can paste text without formatting in Word 2021:

Method 1: Via the Right-Click Menu

  1. Right-click where you want to paste the text.
  2. Select Paste Options in the popup menu.
  3. Click on Unformatted Text (or Paste as Text) from the list.

Method 2: Through Keyboard Shortcut

  1. Copy the text as usual.
  2. Place your cursor where you want to paste.
  3. Press Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows or Command+Shift+V on Mac.
  4. Select Paste as Text (or Unformatted Text) from the list.

These methods ensure that only the plain text is pasted, without any additional formatting.