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When you copy text from a web page and paste it in an email message or Word document, you end up pasting the fonts, formatting and styles along with the text.  But sometimes all you want is the plain text.

One option is to select "Paste Special" from the "Edit" menu or Office 2007 ribbon bar.

Another option is to use the Ctrl+Space keyboard shortcut available in Microsoft Office programs like Word, Excel and Outlook.

Here’s how it works:

1. Select and copy text in any program (typically using Ctrl+C).
2. Paste the text into any Microsoft Office program (Ctrl+V).
3. Select the text you just pasted.
4. Press Ctrl+Space.  The formatted text is converted to plain text.

Note that the Ctrl+Space keyboard shortcut clears the formatting from any text in a Microsoft Office program, not just pasted text.

Article published on October 7, 2011

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