How to Stop Microsoft Word’s Annoying Autoformatting

Hello everyone! I’m Dominic Bayley, a journalist and editor at PCWorld. I have a passion for all things tech, from the latest hardware to innovative apps and gadgets. My goal is to break down the complexities of technology and provide helpful tips that make it easier to navigate.

Welcome to the debut edition of my PCWorld Try This newsletter! Each issue will feature a quick yet valuable tech tip that you can easily implement. If you want to receive more tips like this twice a week, don’t forget to subscribe to Try This. Now, let’s dive into today’s handy tip!

There’s nothing more frustrating than having most of your document polished in Word only to paste in new text that throws off the formatting. Even worse, sometimes the pasted text can mess up your existing format. Today, I’m going to share a straightforward solution to put an end to the auto-formatting chaos.

Here’s What to Do:

1. Open Word and click on File in the Ribbon, then head to More > Options > Advanced.
2. Scroll down until you find the section titled Cut, copy and paste.
3. Next to Pasting between documents, click the drop-down menu to choose from the following options:

• Keep Source Formatting: Maintains the original formatting of the text you’re inserting.
• Keep Text Only: Pastes just the text, adopting the format of the surrounding text.
• Merge Formatting: Preserves styles like bold, italics, and underlining but adjusts the font and color to match the surrounding text.

And that’s all there is to it! If you’re interested in discovering more advanced techniques for Microsoft Word, make sure to check out our guide on eight advanced tricks you may have missed. (Spoiler alert: This is among them.)