This article covers how to change whether text copied and pasted from somewhere else changes formatting to match the document you are writing or keeps the formatting from where it was copied. By default, Office will keep the formatting from the source. This article uses screenshots from Microsoft Word, but the process is the same for all programs that are part of Microsoft Office.
1. Select File at the top left of the Office program window.
2. Select Options at the bottom left of the window.
3. In the Options window, select Advanced.
4. Look for the Cut, copy, and paste section.
5. In this section, you will see the following sources listed:
a. Pasting within the same document: this is when you copy text from the document you’re working in, and paste it in the same document
b. Pasting between documents: this is when the source is a different Microsoft Office document
c. Pasting between documents when style definitions conflict: This is when the source document is a different Microsoft Office document that has style information that conflicts with the one you’re pasting into
d. Pasting from other programs: this is when the source is not a Microsoft Office document
For each of these sources, you can choose from the following behaviors using the drop down menus:
a. Keep Source Formatting: this will paste the copied text as it appears in the document you are copying from
b. Merge Formatting: this will change the font size and style to match the document you paste into, but will keep things like bold and italics as well as indentation and outline formatting
c. Keep Text Only: this will paste only the text, discarding any formatting from the source including bold and outline formatting
6. When done, select OK to save your changes.
