How to paste without formatting on a Mac
To paste without the original formatting on a Mac, press Option-Shift-Command-V instead of Command-V. Apple names this shortcut Paste and Match Style, and describes it as applying the style of the surrounding content to the item you paste. This is from Apple’s Mac keyboard shortcuts article, checked on 4 November 2026.
Steps
- Copy the text as usual with
Command-C. - Click where you want it.
- Press
Option-Shift-Command-V.
The pasted text takes on the font and style of the place you pasted it, instead of bringing the source’s font, size and color.
What it does exactly
Apple’s wording is “Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content”. That is not exactly the same as stripping everything to plain characters. In a document where the surrounding text is plain, the result looks plain. In a document with styled text, the pasted text matches that style.
Other shortcuts Apple lists nearby
Option-Command-Cis Copy Style: it copies the formatting settings of the selected item.Option-Command-Vis Paste Style: it applies the copied style to the selected item. In Finder the same keys have a different job: they move files from the clipboard to the current location.
These help when you want to copy a look, not to remove one. More in Mac copy and paste keyboard shortcuts.
If the shortcut does nothing
Apple’s page does not say that every app supports Paste and Match Style. Some apps may not offer it. If nothing happens, check the app’s menus for a similar paste command, or paste into a plain text editor first and copy from there. That second step is a general workaround and not an Apple instruction.
A related shortcut people mix up
Control-K and Control-Y also cut and paste text, but Apple says that clipboard “is available only to the app from which it was cut”, so it is not the normal clipboard.
Why formatting travels with a copy
When you copy from a web page or a styled document, the clipboard can carry the styling as well as the words. That is why a paste can bring in a different font or a colored background.
NotchStar’s Clipboard keeps the 50 most recent copies in memory, so you can click an earlier one to copy it again. It stores copied text as plain text, so formatting is not kept in its list. It is not a replacement for the shortcut above.
