How to Paste Text into Word Without Formatting (2026)

Word preserves the fonts, colors, and hyperlinks from whatever you copied, and stripping all that out manually is a pain. These four methods let you paste plain text into Word, whether you want to fix it once or change the default behavior permanently. The methods below cover Word on Windows, Word for Mac, and Word for the web.

Method 1: Set Word to always paste from other programs as plain text

This is the fix most people need. Once you change this setting, anything you copy from a browser, email, or PDF will paste into Word as plain text by default.

Applies to: Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016 (Windows)

1. Open Word and go to File > Options.

2. In the left sidebar, select Advanced.

3. Scroll down to the Cut, copy, and paste section.
4. Find the Pasting from other programs dropdown and set it to Keep Text Only.

5. Click OK.

Now copy text from any external source and paste it into Word. It should arrive as plain text, picking up your document’s existing paragraph style instead of bringing its own formatting along.

Note: This setting only affects text you copy after making the change. If you already have something on the clipboard, copy it again before pasting.

You can also set the other three dropdowns (Pasting within the same document, Pasting between documents, Pasting between documents when style definitions conflict) to Keep Text Only if you want plain-text pasting everywhere. For most people, changing just Pasting from other programs is enough.

Method 2: Strip formatting on a single paste (without changing settings)

Don’t want to change the default? You can control formatting one paste at a time.

Option A, Paste Options button

1. Copy your text (Ctrl+C).
2. Click in your Word document where you want to paste.
3. Paste normally (Ctrl+V).
4. A small Paste Options icon appears just below the pasted text. Click it.
5. Select Keep Text Only (the clipboard icon with a letter “A”).

Word strips the source formatting and applies your document’s existing style to the pasted text.

Option B, Keyboard shortcut after pasting

1. Paste with Ctrl+V.
2. Press Ctrl once to open the Paste Options menu.
3. Press T to select Keep Text Only.

This two-key combo (Ctrl, then T) is the fastest way to clean up a paste without touching your mouse.

Option C, Right-click menu

1. Right-click where you want to paste.
2. Under Paste Options in the context menu, click the Keep Text Only icon.

Method 3: Assign Ctrl+Shift+V as a “paste without formatting” shortcut

Note for Microsoft 365/Word 365 users: Microsoft is rolling out a built-in Ctrl+Shift+V “Paste text only” shortcut in recent Word 365 desktop builds. Before following the steps below, try pressing Ctrl+Shift+V in your current version of Word — if it already pastes plain text, you’re done. Only proceed with the customization steps if the shortcut doesn’t work yet in your build, or if you want to assign a different key combination.

Ctrl+Shift+V pastes as plain text in Chrome, Google Docs, Slack, and most other apps, but not in Word by default. You can add it manually in about a minute.

1. Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon.
2. At the bottom of the dialog, click Customize… next to Keyboard shortcuts.

3. In the Categories list, select All Commands.
4. In the Commands list, scroll to and select PasteTextOnly.
5. Click inside the Press new shortcut key field and press Ctrl+Shift+V.
6. Confirm that Currently assigned to shows [unassigned].
7. Click Assign, then Close, then OK.

From now on, Ctrl+Shift+V in Word pastes plain text, the same behavior you’re used to everywhere else.

Method 4: Use Paste Special for one-off plain-text pastes

Paste Special gives you precise control without changing any settings. It’s also useful when the Paste Options button isn’t appearing.

1. Copy your text (Ctrl+C).
2. In Word, place your cursor where you want to paste.
3. On the Home tab, click the dropdown arrow under the Paste button and select Paste Special…

4. In the dialog, select Unformatted Text.
5. Click OK.

The text pastes in without any source formatting. This is the equivalent of Keep Text Only and works in every modern version of Word.

Word for Mac: paste without formatting

The Mac version of Word handles this slightly differently.

Change the default paste behavior (Word for Mac)

1. Go to Word > Settings (or Preferences depending on your version).
2. Select Edit.
3. Under paste options, set Pasting from other programs to Keep Text Only.
4. Close the dialog.

Paste once without formatting (Word for Mac)

• Use Edit > Paste and Match Formatting to paste plain text that adopts your document’s style.
• Or use Edit > Paste Special > Unformatted Text for the same result.

Word for the web: paste without formatting

Word for the web has fewer paste options than the desktop app. The simplest approach is to use your browser’s built-in plain-text paste shortcut before the text even reaches Word:

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Shift+V
• Mac: Cmd+Shift+V

If your browser doesn’t support that shortcut, paste the text into Notepad first, copy it from there, then paste into Word for the web. Notepad strips all formatting automatically.

Troubleshooting

The Paste Options button isn’t appearing after I paste

Go to File > Options > Advanced > Cut, copy, and paste and make sure Show Paste Options button when content is pasted is checked.

Numbered lists are still coming in with their numbering after I set Keep Text Only

In the same Cut, copy, and paste section, uncheck Keep bullets and numbers when pasting text with Keep Text Only option. After that, lists will paste as plain paragraphs.

I changed the setting but the formatting is still coming through

The new setting only applies to text copied after you save the change. Go back to the source, copy the text again, and then paste. It should come through clean.

Wrapping up

For most people, Method 1, setting Pasting from other programs to Keep Text Only in Word Options, finally solves the problem for good. If you paste from external sources constantly, pairing that with the Ctrl+Shift+V shortcut from Method 3 gives you the fastest workflow. The Notepad trick still works as a universal fallback in any app, not just Word. If you find yourself dealing with leftover styling after pasting, you may also want to learn how to clear formatting in Word to clean things up quickly. For more on working with text and links in your documents, see how to rename a hyperlink in Microsoft Word documents. And if Word itself starts acting up, check out these fixes for when Microsoft Word is not responding.