Copy Text Without Formatting

The Problem

Sometimes you want to copy text without carrying over links, images and other formatting information. For example, suppose you were visiting Wikipedia and wanted to send someone some selected text. You go to the page and highlight the text. You can now Copy the text (from CMD-C or from the right-click context menu).

You now choose to Paste, or Paste and Match Style, into another application. For example, either of these will paste the above copied text into Messages as:

Pasting the text that was copied using the usual Copy command — Pasting the text that was copied using the usual *Copy* command

This is difficult to read if all you wanted was the text, and hugely annoying when sending to a colleague, say, who just wanted to see the content. Sometimes, as shown here, newlines may be lost, reducing readability.

The Solution

Copy Text Without Formatting installs a simple text Service on macOS that does exactly what it says. For example, once installed, you can copy the text using the Services menu (or assign a key combination for a shortcut):

Copying text using the Copy Text Without Formatting service — Copying text using the *Copy Text Without Formatting* service

Now, when you Paste into Messages, you get:

Pasting the text that was copied using the Copy Text Without Formatting service — Pasting the text that was copied using the *Copy Text Without Formatting* service

Obviously this is far more readable. It’s just an extra tool you can choose to use, or not, at any time. It does not replace existing Copy or Paste mechanisms.

Installation

Download the package, double click it and follow through the installer instructions.

Once installed, you need to turn on the service. To do this, go to the Services menu of any app and choose Services Settings….

Getting to Service Settings… using more recent macOS versions — Getting to *Services Settings…* using more recent macOS versions

On older macOS versions you may need to go to System Settings/Preferences from the Apple menu, and find Keyboard, and choose Keyboard Shortcuts…, then Services.

Enable the service. If you like, you can also set a keyboard shortcut here.

Now, whenever you select text in any application, the service is available to you. As shown above, it will appear in the context menu (right-click), or in the main menu of the app you are using.

Notes

If the service doesn’t appear in your services menu, you may need to log out and log back in.
Also note, the service will only be there if you select text and you enabled it as shown above.
Some apps will work with just Paste and Match Style. Messages does not work in this way, so is one app where this extension is useful (as shown in the examples above). Microsoft Word also will not work with just Paste and Match Style so it may be handy there as well.

Download

Download Copy Text Without Formatting-1.0.pkg.

This service is free. If you find it useful, please let me know. If you don’t, please don’t. 😀

Disclaimer

While curmi.com make every effort to deliver high quality products, we do not guarantee that our products are free from defects. Our software is provided “as is,” and you use the software at your own risk.

We make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied.

No oral or written communication from or information provided by curmi.com shall create a warranty.

Under no circumstances shall curmi.com be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if curmi.com has been advised of the possibility of such damages.