How to Paste Without Formatting in Google Docs (Windows, Mac and Mobile)

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To paste without formatting in Google Docs, copy your text as usual, click where you want it, and press Ctrl + Shift + V on Windows or ChromeOS, or Cmd + Shift + V on a Mac. The text drops in as plain words and picks up the formatting of the spot where you paste it, so fonts, colors, sizes and highlights from the original source are left behind.

If you prefer the mouse, right-click in the document and choose Paste without formatting. And if formatted text is already in your document, select it and press Ctrl + Backslash (Windows) or Cmd + Backslash (Mac) to clear its formatting. The backslash key is usually just above Enter or Return on US keyboards.

Quick Answer

  1. Copy the text from a website, email, PDF or another document.
  2. In Google Docs, click where you want the text to go.
  3. Press Ctrl + Shift + V (Windows, ChromeOS) or Cmd + Shift + V (Mac).
  4. Or right-click and choose Paste without formatting.
  5. To fix text that’s already pasted, select it and press Ctrl + Backslash or Cmd + Backslash.

In This Guide

Before You Start

This guide covers Google Docs in a web browser on Windows, Mac and ChromeOS, plus the Google Docs apps for Android and iOS, as of September 2026. Keyboard shortcuts come from Google’s official Docs shortcut list.

  • Formatting means how text looks: font, size, color, bold, italics, underlining, highlights, and sometimes links or spacing carried over from the source.
  • Paste without formatting (sometimes called pasting as plain text) inserts only the words, then applies the style already used where your cursor is.
  • Browser matters. Google says menu-based copy and paste works in Chrome, while most other browsers only allow keyboard shortcuts for security reasons.
  • You need edit access to the document. If you only have view or comment access, you can’t paste into it.

Method 1: Use the Keyboard Shortcut

This is the fastest method and it works in every major browser.

  1. Copy your text. Select it in the source and press Ctrl + C (Windows, ChromeOS) or Cmd + C (Mac).
  2. Open your Google Doc and click exactly where the text should go.
  3. Paste without formatting. Press Ctrl + Shift + V on Windows or ChromeOS, or Cmd + Shift + V on a Mac. Expected result: the text appears in the same font, size and color as the surrounding paragraph.
  4. Check the result. If something went wrong, press Ctrl + Z or Cmd + Z to undo and try again.

Google lists these shortcuts on its Google Docs keyboard shortcuts page, along with a note that some shortcuts might not work for all languages or keyboards.

Use this if you’d rather not remember a shortcut. It’s most reliable in Google Chrome.

  1. Copy your text from the source.
  2. In Google Docs, right-click where you want to paste.
  3. Choose Paste without formatting. Expected result: the plain text appears at your cursor.

In Chrome you can also open the Edit menu at the top of the document and look for Paste without formatting. If you use Safari, Firefox or Edge and the menu option asks you to use a shortcut instead, that’s expected: Google’s copy and paste help explains that most browsers don’t let web apps use the clipboard through menus.

Method 3: Clear Formatting After You Paste

If you already pasted text with the wrong look, you don’t need to delete it. Clear formatting strips the text styling so it matches your document’s normal text.

  1. Select the text you want to fix. To select everything, press Ctrl + A or Cmd + A.
  2. Press Ctrl + Backslash (Windows, ChromeOS) or Cmd + Backslash (Mac). Google also lists Ctrl + Space as a Windows alternative.
  3. Or open the Format menu and choose Clear formatting.

Expected result: bold, italics, colors, highlights and font changes are removed from the selection. Warning: this also removes formatting you added on purpose, such as bold words inside the selection, so select only the part you want to reset.

Method 4: Copy Formatting From Other Text

Sometimes you want pasted text to match a particular paragraph rather than plain body text. Docs can copy formatting from one place and apply it to another.

  1. Select text that already has the look you want.
  2. Press Ctrl + Alt + C (Windows) or Cmd + Option + C (Mac) to copy its formatting.
  3. Select the pasted text you want to change.
  4. Press Ctrl + Alt + V (Windows) or Cmd + Option + V (Mac) to apply it.

The paint format button (the paint roller icon in the toolbar) does the same job with the mouse. Headings, fonts and structure matter more in long documents; our guide on using the document outline in Google Docs shows how consistent heading styles keep a document easy to navigate.

Pasting Markdown text

If you copy text written in Markdown (a plain-text format that uses symbols like # for headings and ** for bold), Google Docs can convert it instead of pasting the symbols. Turn it on under Tools, Preferences, Enable Markdown. Then right-click and choose Paste from Markdown, as described in Google’s Markdown announcement.

Pasting on Android, iPhone and iPad

The Google Docs mobile apps paste with a touch-and-hold gesture. Google’s help describes standard paste on mobile but doesn’t list a separate “paste without formatting” option there, so the usual approach is to paste and then clear the formatting.

  1. Open the document in the Google Docs app and tap Edit (the pencil icon).
  2. Touch and hold where you want to paste, then tap Paste.
  3. Select the pasted text, tap the Format icon (it usually looks like a letter A), and look for a clear formatting option. Labels can vary by app version.

If your phone’s keyboard or the pop-up menu offers a plain-text paste option, you can use that instead. Another reliable workaround is to paste into a plain notes app first, copy it again, and then paste into Docs.

Which Option Should You Use?

Situation Best option
Pasting from a website, email or PDF on a computer Ctrl + Shift + V or Cmd + Shift + V
You prefer the mouse and use Chrome Right-click, Paste without formatting
Text is already pasted with the wrong look Select it, then Ctrl + Backslash or Cmd + Backslash
Pasted text should match a specific paragraph Copy and paste formatting, or the paint format button
You want to keep the source’s formatting Regular paste: Ctrl + V or Cmd + V
Pasting on a phone or tablet Paste, then clear formatting from the Format panel

Moving text from Microsoft Word and want to keep its look? See our guide on pasting from Word to Google Docs with formatting.

Troubleshooting

Ctrl + Shift + V does nothing

Click inside the document first so the cursor is blinking in the text. Some browser extensions, clipboard managers or keyboard utilities take over this shortcut; try again in a private window with extensions off, or use the right-click menu in Chrome.

The menu says to use a keyboard shortcut

That’s browser security, not a bug. Most browsers block web apps from reading the clipboard through menus. Use the shortcut, or switch to Chrome. Google notes Chrome users can install the Docs Offline extension to enable menu-based clipboard access.

Pasted text still has odd spacing or bullets

Paste without formatting removes text styling, but line breaks from the source still come across. Delete extra blank lines by hand, or apply the list and paragraph style you want after pasting.

The Backslash shortcut doesn’t work on my keyboard

Some keyboard layouts, especially outside the US, put the backslash key in a different place or require a modifier. Use Format and then Clear formatting from the menu instead.

Links disappeared after pasting

Plain-text pasting can drop hyperlinks from the source. If you need a link, paste normally, or add the link again with Insert and Link.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the shortcut to paste without formatting in Google Docs?

Ctrl + Shift + V on Windows and ChromeOS, and Cmd + Shift + V on a Mac.

Does pasting without formatting remove bold and italics?

Yes. It pastes the words only, then applies the formatting already used at your cursor. Bold, italics, colors and fonts from the source are not kept.

Can I make Google Docs always paste without formatting?

Google Docs doesn’t document a setting for that. Use the shortcut each time, or clear formatting afterward.

How do I remove formatting from a whole document?

Press Ctrl + A (or Cmd + A) to select everything, then Ctrl + Backslash (or Cmd + Backslash). Headings and styles you want to keep will need to be reapplied, so undo right away if the result isn’t what you wanted.

Does this work in Google Sheets and Slides too?

Ctrl + Shift + V works as a plain paste in many Google editors, but each app has its own options. Sheets, for example, has a separate Paste special menu with choices like values only.

Why does my pasted text look different from the source?

Docs adapts pasted text to the document’s styles, and paste without formatting takes on the look of the paragraph you paste into. That’s the point of the feature: consistent text throughout your document.

Summary

  1. Copy your text from the source.
  2. Click where it should go in Google Docs.
  3. Press Ctrl + Shift + V (Windows, ChromeOS) or Cmd + Shift + V (Mac), or right-click and choose Paste without formatting.
  4. Fix already-pasted text by selecting it and pressing Ctrl + Backslash or Cmd + Backslash, or using Format and Clear formatting.
  5. On mobile, paste normally and then clear formatting.

Next step: open a Google Doc and try Ctrl + Shift + V (or Cmd + Shift + V) with text copied from a web page so the shortcut becomes second nature.

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