When I try copying a table from a website into an empty TextEdit table, all the data lands in the first (top left) cell. Is there a way to copy to TextEdit in a way that the data remains in rows and columns format?
iMac 27″, macOS 10.14
Don't create an empty table first.
The only HTML tables that will copy/paste with reasonable recognition into a Rich Text (RTF) TextEdit document are those that use formal HTML Table tags and are not overly styled with Cascading Style Sheet (CSS3). It is possible to create CSS3 tables from flex or grid CSS3 styling and nested <div> tags, but however table-like these appear, their pasting into TextEdit will be a train wreck.
Found the file extension. Pasting into .rtf
duncantho wrote:
If I copy straight to TextEdit I just get rows, in awkward groups. Definitely not a table.
What file type are you pasting to in TextEdit...(?)
.txt.
.rtf
.rtfd
TextEdit User Guide for Mac - Apple Support
https://support.apple.com/guide/textedit/change-textedit-preferences-txted1063/mac
Hi Leroydouglas,
As for the file type, I imagine it's HTML or something like that. The info I'm pasting comes from web tables. Or "frames"? Out of my depth!
I notice that when I copy and paste into TextEdit, the data appear as clumped rows, with a line break at the end of the rows. When I paste into BBEdit all the data appear in a single a column, with line breaks after each item.
duncantho wrote:
Thanks for your reply, etresoft. If I copy straight to TextEdit I just get rows, in awkward groups. Definitely not a table.
Then perhaps that is how the original data is organized. I tried it myself and it worked perfectly.
Thanks for your reply, etresoft. If I copy straight to TextEdit I just get rows, in awkward groups. Definitely not a table.
I've just re-read your question, leroy. I'm pasting into whatever format TextEdit provides when I start a new document in it.
Thanks Viking. Not the news I wanted but I think you must be right.
Copy a web table to TextEdit as a table — is it possible?
