No more nerves: Microsoft changes default paste option in Word
Microsoft is changing the default behavior when pasting in Word. The function should apply to everyone.
Word can drive people to despair.
(Bild: Bild erstellt mit KI in Bing Designer durch heise online / dmk)
There have already been tentative attempts in this direction, and additional keyboard shortcuts were added to Word a year ago to enable pasting without formatting. Now Microsoft is following suit. The standard option for pasting text from other programs is changing to "Merge formatting", a close relative of unformatted pasting.
(Bild: Screenshot / dmk)
Microsoft announced the change this week in a blog post for Microsoft365 Insiders. "Paste is one of the most used features in Word, but it can take a lot of time. Have you ever copied content into your documents only to spend countless minutes manually correcting the formatting of the pasted content?" ask the authors of the post. Yes. This has probably annoyed every Word user at least occasionally.
Microsoft responds to user feedback
"We've heard from many of you that the 'Keep source formatting' default setting doesn't meet your needs. And you would prefer the default 'Merge formatting' option to be active when pasting," Microsoft's employees explain. "We heard you and are happy to deliver now!"
After the recent updates, when users paste text from other programs, "Merge Formats" is selected by default. Compared to the "Keep original formatting" option, which preserves font sizes, colors and the like, "Merge formatting" adjusts fonts, sizes and colors, but preserves markup such as listings and formatting such as bold, italic or underlined.
If you want to change the default behavior, you will find the "Cut, copy and paste" block under "File" - "Options" - "Advanced" and then "Paste from other programs". Here, for example, "Copy text only" is also available, which is probably preferred by even more Word users. The option is integrated from Word for Windows 2405, Build 17624.20000. However, it is not available in Word for the web or Word for Mac.
For many, the changeover marks the end of a decades-long ordeal. The fact that Microsoft has already added the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+V for unformatted pasting or that this option can be retrofitted system-wide with the Powertoys was an improvement. However, as usually only the text is needed, the current change is certainly extremely welcome to many.
(dmk)