drusantos Author

Level 1

9 points

What's the difference between "Paste Style" and "Paste and Match Style"?

re: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

What's the difference between "Paste Style" and "Paste and Match Style"?

I tried to test this myself copying text content from a source like Slack and pasting it into the middle of a paragraph I have in a Google Docs doc, but I can't tell the difference.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 1, 2020 4:41 AM

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6 replies

drusantos Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 1, 2020 8:57 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

Thanks, unfortunately that is not remotely close to actually addressing my question.

You just replied with instructions on how to "paste" text with the original formatting, and how to paste text using "paste and match stye" which will be pick up the formatting from wherever you're pasting the text into.

I'm looking to find the difference between the latter ("past and match style"), and "paste style". Those two action have two distinct keyboard shortcuts (see Apple help article linked in the post description)

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Level 10

250,253 points

Oct 1, 2020 10:09 AM in response to drusantos

Great work! :) 👍

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Oct 1, 2020 11:15 AM in response to drusantos

Did you see where I corrected the post? You quoted the previous version.

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Oct 1, 2020 8:04 AM in response to drusantos

Copy and paste text in Pages on Mac - Apple Support

Select the text to copy.
Choose Edit > Copy (from the Edit menu at the top of your screen), or press Command-C.
Note: If you want to remove the text from its original location, choose Edit > Cut instead.
Click where you want the text to appear, then do one of the following:

- Paste the text with its current formatting into a new paragraph: Choose Edit > Paste, or press Command-V on the keyboard.
- Paste and match the style of the text where you’re pasting: Choose Edit > Paste and Match Style.

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Oct 1, 2020 9:08 AM in response to drusantos

Correction: This is the pair of commands that are relevant.

Option-Command-C: Copy Style: Copy the formatting settings of the selected item to the Clipboard.

Option-Command-V: Paste Style: Apply the copied style to the selected item. If you copy a style

It's like Format painter in Word. If you want to copy the formatting (but not the text itself) of a particular bit of text to a different bit of text, these are the two commands you'd use. Use the first to copy the formatting. Then go to the text you want to paste it to and use the second.

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drusantos Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 1, 2020 9:12 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

For example. If you select some text that is in Times New Roman 12 pt. Bold and use "Paste Style" to past it into something that is in Helvetica 14 pt. italic, the text you paste will retain the Times New Roman 12 pt. bold. If you select the same text and paste it using "Paste and Match Style, the text will be changed from Times New Roman 12 pt Bold to Helvetica 14 pt. Italic to match the existing format. In other words, exactly what Bob said here:

Paste the text with its current formatting into a new paragraph: Choose Edit > Paste, or press Command-V on the keyboard.

Paste and match the style of the text where you’re pasting: Choose Edit > Paste and Match Style.

On my end this is not how it works.

I'm testing the three different ways of pasting that are outlining in that help article linked above:

Command-V: Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder.

Option-Command-V: Paste Style: Apply the copied style to the selected item.

Option-Shift-Command-V: Paste and Match Style: Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content.

The first one, as expected, pastes the content keep the original format/style.

The second one doesn't even work. Does nothing. I tested this in Text Edit and also Google Docs. Text Edit even has a dedicated keyboard shortcut for it, but the content never gets copied.

The third one, as expected, pastes the content but matches the format/style of the destination.

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What's the difference between "Paste Style" and "Paste and Match Style"?

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