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This is a version of Windows XP: Can I paste plain text by default for Mac users. This drives me insane as well.

Whenever I cut and paste anything from one app to another in OS X it carries formatting with it. The only exception is when using a text editor like TextMate. I don't want text I copied from a website or Pages to paste with formatting in iChat, etc.

Does anyone know a way I can turn this off by default, or is there an app that will do it for me?

Thanks for your help.

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Here you go: https://www.engadget.com/2009-07-07-tuaw-tip-paste-without-formatting-by-default.html enter image description here

There's an answer, thanks to the Keyboard & Mouse pane in System Preferences. If you click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, you can assign "Paste Without Formatting" and/or "Paste and Match Style" to Command + V for all applications. Just click the + button under the list, type in the name of the appropriate menu items, and press ⌘-V in the Keyboard Shortcut box.

One note: Panic designer Neven Mrgan found that using this tip means you won't be able to paste images into iChat using Command + V. Dragging and dropping (or choosing Paste from the Edit menu) still works, though. Update: If you explicitly add ⌘-V in as a shortcut for Paste that's specific to iChat, you can restore the image paste capability without breaking the global shortcut.

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    Be careful doing this. It breaks pasting into some text fields, like the subject of a Mail.app message. Learn to use the "Paste and Match Formatting" shortcut when you need to, instead.
    – Matthew Schinckel
    Jul 28, 2009 at 14:18
  • Why the down vote, there is a note near the end of the post saying "Update: If you explicitly add ⌘-V in as a shortcut for Paste that's specific to iChat, you can restore the image paste capability without breaking the global shortcut." I assume you can do the same for Mail.app
    – Dan McClain
    Aug 6, 2009 at 18:50
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PTH Pasteboard gives you this functionality plus a whole lot more. Multiple clipboards, running scripts (python, ruby, bash, etc...) before being pasted, and persistent clipboard history across reboots are some of my favorite features.

I think I bought this utility faster than any other shareware ever, it's a steal at $25.

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  • How exactly can you change this default in PTH Pasteboard? Thanks.
    – Peter Štibraný
    Apr 3, 2012 at 13:49
  • OK, I've found it, but that's not really CMD+V paste :-(
    – Peter Štibraný
    Apr 3, 2012 at 13:57
  • Goto PTH Pasteboard Preferences, Pasteboards tab, select Main from the source list on the left, and then check the "As Plaintext" checkbox.
    – Mark Thalman
    Apr 3, 2012 at 15:24
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Another alternative is, CleanBoard which is a lightweight MacOS app that removes any formatting or special characters from your copied text by hitting the copy-shortcut twice. Great if you don't want to remember those complicated keyboard shortcuts.

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