"Paste text only" - there is an (almost) new shortcut in Word

Microsoft Word has been around for 40 years. And just as long the problems with it. The software company now wants to fix a complication in the word processing programme: Now you should be able to insert a text without the source formatting coming along - that is, without the whole document having a new layout, four new colours and six different fonts afterwards. Finally. Office workers all over the world can breathe a sigh of relief. The revolutionary shortcut that leads you to new Word happiness: Ctrl + Shift + V for Windows and Cmd + Shift + V for Mac.

And now I can already hear you shouting: "Yeah, but that's not new at all, is it?" .

Not new, but better

The copy shortcut with Shift is indeed not new. Nor is it new that you can transfer text - via various detours - into Word without formatting. What is new is that Ctrl + Shift + V now also works in Word. Until now, this was not the case; of all things, the key combination did not work in the word processing programme.

Whoever does not want to use an unintended text transfer in Word, should use the key combination.

Whoever did not want to copy unwanted formatting had to remove it in a second step with a mouse click. Or call up the paste options. Or use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + V - which usually opened a new window in which you had to choose between HTML format or unformatted Unicode text. Of course, despite a 50:50 chance, I always chose the wrong one.

Microsoft must have been aware of the problem all these years - in the blog post, the corporation itself immediately shows how complicated it was to insert without formatting. (Apparently this gif is not displayed correctly in all browsers. We are working on it.)

To this, Microsoft writes, a bit guiltily, "Users do indeed expect Ctrl + Shift + V to paste plain text, and when that doesn't work, it can be frustrating. The Word team has heard about this issue and we are updating the keyboard shortcuts in direct response to your feedback" Thank you Microsoft! Better late than never. The realisation only comes now, he said, because "Microsoft doesn't always have the ability to revise behaviour that already exists" A too-full to-do list, in other words, even at Microsoft.

More new shortcuts

In addition to "Paste text only", Microsoft shows other new shortcuts, for example for pasting the format. As well as - in keeping with the copy changeover - the shortcut for the copyright symbol.

And don't worry if this is all too much innovation for you: Microsoft also writes in the blog post that the shortcuts can be manually undone in the Word options.

The availability: you're not the problem (for once)

. Microsoft is only unlocking the shortcut innovations incrementally. The new keyboard shortcuts are available on Windows in Word from version 16.0.15831.20174, on the Mac from version 16.67.1113.0 - but not immediately for everyone. According to the company, the features are being implemented slowly to ensure that everything functions smoothly. So far, the function is only available for M365 Home or M365 Business Standard in the Beta Channel.

In response, Microsoft writes: "You don't have it yet? Then I guess we're the problem, not you."

After all, for once, no Layer 8 problem.

These articles might also interest you