

Touch Command + Shift + T to convert the document to plain text and remove all formatting.Open a new TextEdit file and paste the formatted / formatted text.TextEdit, the simple text editing app included in all versions of Mac OS X, and you can use the built-in rich text conversion capabilities to strip the formatting very quickly. 3: Remove text styling and formatting with TextEdit The downside is that not all apps support their use, so you may want to use the following trick instead, which is universal as it depends on an individual application. Since the clipboards are different, you need to be consistent in using the commands and you cannot move from one to the other without pasting the text elsewhere and then copying it again. Stick with in the desired place Control + Y (instead of command + v)Īgain, these alternate cut and paste commands remove all formatting and style, and they also use an alternate clipboard, so you don’t rewrite anything on the primary clipboard.Highlight the text and press Control + K to ‘cut’ without formatting (instead of command + c).What to alternate now? Many don’t know this, but in addition to Command + C and Command + V, there is an alternate set of cut and paste commands available in Mac OS X that also use an alternate clipboard, but also have the added benefit of removing formatting from copied text. 2: Remove formatting with the alternative cut and paste commands Thanks to and others for pointing out this mod series on twitter and in the comments, and thanks Rob for clarifying the feature. Note the difference from the normal Command + V paste trick, including formatting. Paste the copied text and adjust the current style with Command + Option + Shift + V.Copy the text as usual with Command + C.

It’s just a variation of the normal copy and paste trick: There is a change command to change the way pasting works so that it “matches the style”, which if you paste into a plain text document or new email composition will remove all font styles and formatting in that paste process, regardless of what is saved on the clipboard. 1: Strip Styling & Formatting with a special Paste & Match Style Command
