Copying and pasting text from one source to another can be a time-saving feature, but it often brings formatting that you don't want.
When pasting text into Google Docs, you might not always want the formatting from the original source to carry over. This can often lead to inconsistencies and disrupt the overall look of your document.
If you use Google Docs for your document creation needs, there's a quick and easy way to paste without formatting.
In this tutorial, I will explain some quick and easy methods to help you learn how to paste without formatting in Google Docs.
Let's get started.
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How to Paste Without Formatting in Google Docs
In this tutorial, I am going to explain two very simple methods to copy content from external sources and paste it without formatting in your Google documents.
In this tutorial, we will see three methods to add copied content into your Google Docs document without formatting.
First you need to copy your content from external sources such as a word processors like Microsoft Word or its alternatives. You can even copy you content from your emails, worksheet, slides, and more.
For the sake of this tutorial, I have created a document in Microsoft Word and applied some formatting to it such as headings, bold font, color, italics, and underline. See the below screenshot.
Now, select the content you want to copy and use the keyboard shortcut - Ctrl + C.
After pressing Ctrl + C, the content will be copied to your clipboard along with its formatting.
Now, go to Google Docs by visiting this link - https://docs.google.com, and click on Blank document to create a new document.
Let's move on to our first method.
Method 1: Use Keyboard Shortcut
Now, if you directly paste the content by using the keyboard shortcut - Ctrl + V, the content will get added in your Google Document along with its formatting. See the below screenshot.
So, if you want to paste your content without formatting, you will need to use another keyboard shortcut - Ctrl + Shift + V.
Let's see an example.
We will again copy the content as we have done in the previous step. In Google Docs, press the keyboard shortcut - Ctrl + Shift + V, to paste your content.
This time you will see that your content has been added in plain text without any formatting. See the below screenshot.
This is how you can copy and paste your content with and without formatting in Google Docs using keyboard shortcut.
Now, let's move on to the next method.
Method 2: Use the Format Menu
In this method, I will again copy the content from my Word document and paste it in my Google document using the short cut - Ctrl + V, or by going to Edit >> Paste.
In the below screenshot, you can see the copied content along with its formatting.
Now, to remove the formatting as seen in the above screenshot, follow the steps mentioned below.
First copy the content from which you want to remove the formatting.
Now, go to Format from the top menu and select the option - Clear formatting (or press Ctrl+\) to remove the formatting from your selected content.
In the below screenshot, you can see that after selecting the option Format >> Clear formatting, all the formatting from the content has been removed.
Now, let's move on to the final method.
Method 3: Use the Right-click Menu
Another way to paste without formatting in Google Docs is by using the right-click menu.
After copying the content you want to paste, right-click on the place where you want to insert it, and from the options that appear, select "Paste without formatting."
This will ensure that the text is inserted without any formatting.
To do this, we will again copy our content from our source document. In my case, I will again copy the same content from my MS Word document.
And go to my Google Docs document and right-click on my mouse. It will open a menu which will look like this.
Now, click on the option - Paste without formatting. Here, you can also see the shortcut for this option - Ctrl+Shift+V, which have already used in Method 1.
After applying the above option, you can see that the content has been added to our Google document without any formatting.
That's it! By applying any of these three methods, you can easily add copied content from third-party sources and paste without formatting in Google Docs.
Remember, pasting without formatting is not only helpful for maintaining a consistent and clean look in your documents, but it's also useful when copying content from different sources that have different styles.
Wrapping Up
Knowing how to paste content with and without formatting in Google Docs can save you time and frustration.
Whether you use keyboard shortcuts, the right-click menu, or formatting options, these simple techniques will ensure that you can quickly insert content into your documents without the hassle of unwanted formatting.
I hope you found this tutorial on how to paste without formatting in Google Docs helpful. If you have liked it, please share it with your friends on social media.
For more useful tutorials, you can check out the below mentioned blog articles.
