PlayInfoBox

Home /Utilities /How to Set the Default Paste Formatting Option in Word

How to Set the Default Paste Formatting Option in Word

Tap a step to see more detail.

  1. Open File then Options

    Click the File tab in the top-left corner of Word, then click Options.

  2. Go to the Advanced section

    In the Options window, choose Advanced from the list on the left.

  3. Find the Cut, Copy, and Paste section

    Scroll down until you find that section.

  4. Choose your default paste option

    For each scenario, such as Pasting from other programs, set the default to Keep Source Formatting or Keep Text Only, whichever fits how you usually work.

  5. Why it is useful

    Instead of manually cleaning up formatting after every single paste, setting your preferred default in advance keeps your documents consistently tidy.

Tired of choosing a paste option every single time?

If you find yourself cleaning up formatting every time you copy something from a web page or another document, setting a default paste behavior in advance means everything gets pasted the way you want automatically from then on.

Also worth knowing: clearing all formatting

If a paragraph ends up with a tangle of inconsistent formatting despite your default settings, learning the shortcut to clear all formatting from a selection gives you a fast reset button whenever a paste still comes in looking messy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the paste options icon still appear every time even after I change the default?

Yes. Right after pasting, an icon appears near the pasted text, and clicking it lets you override the default and choose a different paste style just for that instance.

Does this setting apply when I copy and paste within the same document?

Yes. There is a separate setting for pasting within the same document, so you can configure it differently from pasting between documents or from other sources.