Copy and paste from MS Word to Apple Mail - line spacing problems

Question

Copy and paste from MS Word to Apple Mail - line spacing problems

Very frustrating problem.

If I go into an office 2008 / Microsoft Word document. Copy the text. Go to Apple Mail. Paste the text. The line spacing is messed up. It converts single spaced items to double spaced whenever one paragraph ends and another starts.

Also does the same thing when you use the Paste and match style option.

Anyone have a solution that doesn't involve using different programs?

MacBook Pro, iphone G3, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 11, 2009 11:31 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 11, 2009 11:47 PM in response to LA_macbook_user

The only solution I have so far is to do a find and replace in my word document and replace all Paragraph Marks with a Manual Line Break. Then it copies and pastes just fine. What a pain!

Message was edited by: LA macbookuser

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Answer 2

Aug 11, 2009 11:43 PM in response to Community User

Yes, it only happens with office. Yes, it only occurs when pasting into Mac Mail. Yes, office is up to date. I just switched from Entourage to Apple Mail, so new problem for me.

Has something to do with Paragraph marks not being recognized correctly by Apple Mail. If I find and replace paragraph marks in word and replace with manual line break... copy and paste works correctly.

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Answer 3

Sep 9, 2009 1:24 AM in response to krossover

We just found an efficient workaround for this:

Step 1) copy from MS Word
Step 2) paste into a new blank document in TextEdit
Step 3) copy from TextEdit
Step 4) paste into Mail

Not sure what TextEdit ignores that Mail listens to, but at least it functions as a good filter for the garbage MS Word is sticking in the clipboard.

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Answer 4

Sep 2, 2009 8:51 AM in response to LA_macbook_user

*BUMP*

I'm experiencing the same issue with no resolve.

As it turns out, it's not just when copying a word doc into Mail but the same spacing issue occurs when pasting directly into gmail.

I experimented with various different combinations of settings to not avail.

Executing the same copy & paste action from Word to Outlook (and even gmail)on a PC seems to work perfectly fine(ie:without the spacing issues)

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer 5

Nov 27, 2009 12:56 PM in response to Robin Darroch

Thank you for this work-around Robin -- it really works.

The bug in Mail is that there is no way to reformat text pasted in from Word, including indents. Not only does Mail insist on double spacing everything, if there were indents in the original document, there is no way to remove indents in Mail --- they are just stuck there. The Format menu-Indentation-Decrease command does not work. There is no real formatting menu in Mail -- no way to get at the hidden codes.

For years I have torn my hair out over our total lack of formatting control over pasted Word text. Using TextEdit is a relatively simply work-around, especially since it preserves text bolding.

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Answer 6

Aug 11, 2009 11:36 PM in response to LA_macbook_user

Is this issue only with Office? Does it only occur when pasting into Mac Mail?

Have you updated office to the newest version?

Finally, is this issue new, or has it always happened with Office 2008?

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Answer 7

Aug 11, 2009 11:46 PM in response to LA_macbook_user

In Mail, do you use Rich Text or Plain Text emails?

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Answer 8

Aug 11, 2009 11:47 PM in response to Community User

Same thing happens no matter which your using.

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