Formatting when copying / pasting is gone, all apps.

Question

Level 1

6 points

Formatting when copying / pasting is gone, all apps.

I recently wiped my MBP and i have a very annoying issue i'm not succeeding in resolving.

Whatever i type in whatever app, from an app to another or with the same app, it won't keep the formating. I don't have this issue on my macmini.

Catalina 10.15.7, pages version 10.2 (7028.0.88)

If I type

"Hello

How

Are You"

It will paste as:

"Hello How Are You"

This is happening in all apps, also in pages or word. I can't even move a sentence or a paragraph without having to reformat everything manually afterwards.

Paste / match style doesn't solve the problem. I want anything i paste anywhere to keep its structure , but to match the style of the target document.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 7, 2020 2:42 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,188 points

Oct 7, 2020 5:31 AM in response to Skygge

Same versions of the operating system and Pages, yet I cannot reproduce your multi-line to single line copy/paste issue with Apple's own applications.

Consider booting into Safe Boot mode, by holding the shift key until you see the familiar boot progress bar. Try the copy/paste in Safe boot mode, then reboot normally, and try again. Does the issue remain?

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Answer 2

Skygge Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 7, 2020 5:59 AM in response to VikingOSX

Bingo! I used copy'em paste, as i have for years.

Deep down in the settings one can choose to among others "make single line" out of the copied text.

Strangely enough this was turned on...

Thanks for the tips, i would never have found out. :D

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,188 points

Oct 7, 2020 5:51 AM in response to Skygge

Have you installed a third-party Finder replacement, or clipboard product?

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,188 points

Oct 7, 2020 3:33 AM in response to Skygge

Also using Pages v10.2 on Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2), and I cannot duplicate what you report. If I enter exactly your multi-line text, and copy to a clean clipboard, the same exact format is pasted into TextEdit, Apple Mail (compose), Sublime Text, and LibreOffice Writer v7. I do not use Microsoft Word.

Just copying your multi-line "Hello How Are You" text to the clipboard from Pages v10.2, places 18 Universal Type Identifier (UTI) items on the clipboard. Each of the legible UTI items shows the text with the same formatting as originally in Pages v10.2.

Each application, whether Apple, or third-party may have different programming as to what information format (UTI) is written, or read from the clipboard, during copy/paste operation between applications. There is no guarantee that content copied to the clipboard from Pages will be read identically by MS Word, nor the obverse.

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