Cutting and pasting URLs into new Pages 8

If you want to consistently preserve drag and drop links (and text), or those that are copied to the clipboard, then open a blank page in TextEdit (rich text mode), and select Edit menu : Substitutions : Smart Links. Now when you drag/drop, or copy/paste from Safari, Firefox, or Brave, into TextEdit, all link information is preserved. It is a simple matter to drag/drop, or copy/paste this TextEdit content of the correct URL link into the Pages document with like effect. Any other approach directly to Pages v8.1 is a root canal.

TextEdit was written to also export HTML. This capability is not in Pages '09 or Pages v8.1. Thus, TextEdit has the correct programming to automatically format and preserve the inbound link information, and Pages does its worst.

You can send the Pages product team feedback from your Pages application menu.

The normal URL paste into Pages v8.1 is black text into the body text — unless you are pasting it into a color filled text box, or shape, in which case it will be white text, and you will have to select, and change the text color.

So, starting with the same web page displayed in Firefox 68.0.2, and Brave 0.67.125, there is an active link on that web page and I copy its link address to the clipboard.

Here are the datatypes that are placed on the clipboard from either browser:

• public.utf8-plain-text
• NSStringPboardType

Although either of these are the full link text, Pages has no native comprehension of HTML, and cannot transform pasted text into an active link — unless one already has selected text in the Pages document, launched the Link Editor, and pastes the clipboard data directly into the Link Editor's Link field.

In Pages v8.1 on macOS 10.14.6 (18G87), no matter whether I Paste, or Paste and Match Style, only plain black text arrives in Pages. in the document body of a word processing document, or a Text box. The only way that I can paste white text into the Pages document is to have the text color set to white — prior to the paste operation.

I see no abnormality between the current Pages v8.1 and v8.0, v7.3, and v7.1 that preceded it.

What text color do you have set?

Having this problem (or at least a related one) also, since update only.

I wonder if @MarkinMaryland further resolved the problem. Sure, I can see that VikingOSX's solution will work, but per OP, this was not a problem until a recent update. I'm still having this issue: that is, when I cut and paste a URL from Brave browser (or Safari) into a Pages document, it is invisible ('no color') so I have to highlight it and select a colour. HOWEVER it IS an active link, I don't need to do anything to make the link active, just to make it visible. I've tried messing around with defaults and this and that, but no luck.

OK, good to know, @MarkinMaryland.

@VikingOSX, I 'think' I understand what you're saying (I'm not an aficionado), but as I said, for me, when I cut and paste an URL, the link is active (easily tested, which I have), but it is invisible ("no fill" where "text colour" should be). Also, the document I'm pasting into is definite set to "text colour" black, but as soon as I hit "paste", it changes to "no fill". I have texted that it's not a problem with formatting of the Pages document by cutting and pasting pretty much any text from any source (including Web pages), and all good! It only flips to "no fill" with URLs. Finally, this has only been happening for a month or so, so I assumed it must be the result update, but didn't pay enough attention to know which one etc. Thanks for your thoughts.

I should also have said that the URL when pasted into a Pages doc, the blue underlining DOES show up, as in, what I get is a blue line...

The copied URL will take the same font attributes as the current paragraph or character style when pasting into Pages. As you are copying just text and not the original HTML encoding, there will be no link formed in Pages when pasted.

If you want a hypertext link in Pages formed by the pasted content, there are two approaches:

1. Paste the url, select it, and press ⌘-K to bring up the link editor, and then repaste the link into the Link: field. Then click anywhere outside of the Link editor to set the URL.
2. Type, and then select the word or words that describe the URL, and then press ⌘-K, and paste the copied URL into the Link: field, as in step 1. The descriptive words are now an active link.