# Remove Formatting from Text Online: Paste as Plain Text

> Remove formatting from text online: strip fonts, colors, links and hidden characters and copy back clean plain text. Plus the paste as plain text shortcut.

URL: https://clipten.com/tools/remove-formatting-from-text
Updated: 2026-10-01
About ClipTen: https://clipten.com/llms.txt

ClipTen (https://clipten.com/) Free tools (https://clipten.com/tools) Remove formatting from text

## Remove formatting from text

Paste text from a website, Word or an email and copy it back as plain text: no fonts, colors, sizes or links, and no invisible characters hiding in it. The paste as plain text shortcut for Windows and Mac is below.

Made by ClipTen

### Stop going back to copy it again.

Pasting the same clean paragraph into several places? ClipTen keeps ten copies on your number keys, so it stays one shortcut away.

Download forMac (https://clipten.com/mac#install)
Get it fromMicrosoft

Slots 1 to 5 free, no daily limit. All 10 for $15, once. See how it works (https://clipten.com/how-it-works)

### How to use it

- Copy the text from wherever it is and paste it into the top box.
- Pick the extra clean-ups you want, such as straight quotes or no bullets.
- Press Copy. What you paste now has no formatting at all.

### Why pasted text keeps the wrong font

When you copy from a web page or a document, the clipboard holds the same text twice: once as plain text and once with its formatting (HTML or rich text). The app you paste into picks the richest version it understands, so the fonts, colors and links come along. You can see both versions with the clipboard viewer (https://clipten.com/clipboard-viewer-online).

This box only accepts the plain version, so whatever you paste in arrives bare. The tool then removes what plain text can still hide: zero-width spaces, soft hyphens, non-breaking spaces and byte-order marks, which can break searches, formulas and form fields.

### Paste as plain text shortcut

| Where | Windows | Mac |

| Chrome, Edge, Slack, Teams | Ctrl + Shift + V | ⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + V |

| Google Docs | Ctrl + Shift + V | ⌘ + ⇧ + V |

| Most other apps | Ctrl + Shift + V, where supported | ⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + V |

| Word | Paste Special › Unformatted text | Paste Special › Unformatted text |

Every copy and paste shortcut (https://clipten.com/copy-and-paste-shortcut-keys).

The shortcut keeps invisible characters and curly quotes, though. When text will go into code, a spreadsheet or a form that rejects odd characters, clean it here.

Last checked October 2026.

### Questions

How do I paste without formatting?

Press Ctrl + Shift + V in most browsers and apps, or ⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + V on a Mac. In Word, use Paste Special and Unformatted text. Or paste into this tool and copy the plain result.

What is the shortcut to paste as plain text on a Mac?

⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + V, called Paste and Match Style, works in most Mac apps and browsers. Google Docs also takes ⌘ + ⇧ + V.

Does this remove hidden characters?

Yes. Zero-width spaces, word joiners, soft hyphens and byte-order marks are always removed. Fix odd spaces also turns non-breaking and other special spaces into normal ones.

What are smart quotes and why remove them?

Smart quotes are the curly “ ” and ‘ ’ that word processors add. Code, CSV files and some forms need straight quotes, so the option turns them into " and '.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. Everything happens in your browser tab.

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Download forMac (https://clipten.com/mac#install)
Get it fromMicrosoft

- Slots 1 to 5 free, no daily limit
- No card, no subscription
- All 10 slots for $15, once

On a Mac, it installs in about a minute with one line in Terminal (https://clipten.com/mac#install).