Copy text from source Word document into new word document keeping original format. Help?

littlerock

I am trying to copy blocks of text from an existing Word document into a new Word document, keeping the original formatting. It does not want to do this. I have tried both standard cut and paste and the other option of insert text group from a file, and neither works.

The original text is not complicated but it does contain two columns in the middle of an otherwise normal document and the copy options do not seem able to handle this. I have tried copying without the columns and then inserting them afterwards but this brings to light other formatting differences, e.g. line breaks, between the original document text and the text as it appears in the destination document. And I have quite a lot of document source to destination blocks of text to insert.

It seems ridiculous that I cannot do this. I must be doing something wrong, any suggestions? I am using Word 365 and Windows 7.

droopsnoot

Can't you copy the entire document, and then delete the bits you don't want?

GunJack

droopsnoot wrote: »

Can't you copy the entire document, and then delete the bits you don't want?

Sometimes this is the only way

littlerock

Actually I have just chanced upon the solution. I use Crtl +C and then Ctrl+V to copy and paste the text. After I do that, then I need to go to the Paste icon in the top left corner of the screen and click the little pull down arrow. This displays some icons and the first one you can choose, will retain the original formatting in the new document when it is copied over. I think this only works with the newer version of Word but I tried it and it works with mine.

flea72

Save a copy of the doc under a new name. Then just delete the bits you dont want

unrecordings

If all else fails I copy the text into a text editor to strip out the formatting, then paste that into the destination document. Make sure your text editor is set to 'plain text' not 'rtf' or 'rich text'. On a Mac it's TextEdit in the Applications Folder - Windows should also still have one poking around where the apps live (though admittedly the last iteration I used was Win98)

DoaM

Notepad still exists in Win 10 ... but it's not obviously linked in the Start menu. Alternatively just get Notepad++ ... a much better editor.

Neil_Jones

DoaM wrote: »

Notepad still exists in Win 10 ... but it's not obviously linked in the Start menu. Alternatively just get Notepad++ ... a much better editor.

It is on the Start Menu but in Windows 10 is buried under "Windows Accessories". In previous versions of Windows it was just under Accessories so it sat at the top of the menu and was easy to find. Or you can just type Notepad into the search banner

WaywardDriver

littlerock wrote: »

Actually I have just chanced up the solution. I use Crtl +C and then Ctrl+V to copy and paste the text. After I do that, then I need to go to the Paste icon in the top left corner of the screen and click the little pull down arrow. This displays some icons and the first one you can choose, will retain the original formatting in the new document when it is copied over. I think this only works with the newer version of Word but I tried it and it works with mine.

Default option, in Word 2016 anyway, is to keep original formatting when pasting. To check, click File-Options-Advanced then scroll to Cut, Copy and Paste section.

CardinalWolsey

When pasting across Office applications, if you use right-click and paste, you should see additional icons appear under the cursor, starting with "Keep Source Formatting" (which is what you require here), Merge Formatting, or Keep Text Only (which strips all formatting away, and applies the style that is active at the location being pasted). These icons are also available if you click the small drop-down by the past icon in the ribbon.

The above is for Word, but its broadly similar across Office, e.g. when pasting a slide in Powerpoint, you can choose Keep Source Theme or Use Destination Theme (or something like that). The most under-used paste option in Powerpoint across the world, looking at some of the presentations I've seen.

littlerock

thanks all