macOS Quick Tip: Copy and Paste Text Without Formatting

[benwiggy]

And that is why I still pay for the standalone app called clean text. I can’t do any word processing without it. It would be nice if Apple just bought the company and integrated it into the software.

You pay for an app to remove formatting?

One line of shell script will do this.

pbpaste | pbcopy

You can easily wrap this into an Automator or Shortcuts workflow, or trigger a shell script any number of other ways. Apple doesn't need to buy a company to remove formatting from text. 🤣

This article is incorrect. It doesn't paste 'plain text'. It pastes with 'Match Styles', which means it applies the styles that have been assigned to the area of the document it's being pasted into.

If you paste plain text into a Rich Text document, then ..... yeah, it's going to have the same style as everything else in the document. It's impossible to do otherwise.

 

[MacBH928]

You pay for an app to remove formatting?

One line of shell script will do this.

pbpaste | pbcopy

You can easily wrap this into an Automator or Shortcuts workflow, or trigger a shell script any number of other ways. Apple doesn't need to buy a company to remove formatting from text. 🤣

this is just going to be similar to cmd+alt+shift+V

the shortcut is easier instead of having to open the terminal

 

[benwiggy]

the shortcut is easier instead of having to open the terminal

Agreed. Though some apps don't have the Match Style function. But I'm showing that it can also be achieve in software in the OS; and therefore the idea of paying for an app (or of Apple needing to buy a company for their revolutionary technology) is needless.

 

[GFS]

But I'm showing that it can also be achieve in software in the OS; and therefore the idea of paying for an app (or of Apple needing to buy a company for their revolutionary technology) is needless.

Shortcuts is a macOS installed app. It's not 3rd party.

(... and the good news, is that it's apparently being improved for Tahoe. Much needed. Yipeee!)

 

[benwiggy]

Shortcuts is a macOS installed app. It's not 3rd party.

Agreed. I'm not suggesting otherwise. MacBH928 was talking about the Paste matching key shortcut, not the app.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

I don’t understand why pasting with formatting even exists. 99% of the time it just creates a mess.

It feels like an impressive-seeming feature from the 90s that has stuck around despite being useless.

links.

But overall, I agree.

 

[CarlJ]

links.

I suspect "Paste with formatting" is (was?) a big deal for word processors and similar.

I normally want "paste without formatting" - just plain text (amusingly enough, since I mostly use plain text for everything, the place this most often shows up is pasting text here on MacRumors, since the default comment box does Rich Text).

The other format I use (largely via the excellent apps Obsidian and Drafts), is one where you paste in Rich Text from the clipboard (coming out of Safari or such) but it's converted into Markdown (thus, marked-up plain text) on the fly.

 

[MacBH928]

cmd+v should be paste without formatting

cmd+alt+shift+v should be paste with formatting

they can also add it in the contextual menu OS wide

 

[Tres]

cmd+v should be paste without formatting

cmd+alt+shift+v should be paste with formatting

they can also add it in the contextual menu OS wide

I was thinking the same thing. Optionally, when dragging and dropping highlighted text it could maintain the formatting. That might make it easier for newer/less experienced users to understand.