Missing text when Paste and Match Style from MS-Word to Apple Mail in Mojave

Question

Level 1

4 points

Missing text when Paste and Match Style from MS-Word to Apple Mail in Mojave

When I write something up in MS-Word (latest version for Mojave) then paste to match style in Apple Mail, a random chunk of text in the middle goes missing. If I repeat the command, a different random chunk of text in the middle goes missing. I only noticed this alarming behaviour yesterday.

The simple "Paste" command seems to work just fine. Though I do now wonder ...

There were no clear answers given in a thread outlining similar problems under Yosemite.

Should I ditch Mail, or MS-Word? I'm not interested in Terminal commands or other convoluted workarounds. Rudimentary text-editing functionality would do me just fine. I've used MS-Word for Mac since 1.0, is this too much to ask?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jan 31, 2023 2:15 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jan 31, 2023 3:36 PM in response to RightRoyal

Paste and Match Style matches the style of where it is being posted, not the style of what is being posted. I'm guessing your eMails are set to default tom Plain Text, not Rich Text.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jan 31, 2023 4:21 PM in response to RightRoyal

Well, I can't even guess with seeing examples & then maybe not either.

Start with this...

Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode? Could take 10 minutes or more.

Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jan 31, 2023 3:46 PM in response to RightRoyal

Well what styles are you using in Word, Mail is limited to Rich Text?

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Feb 1, 2023 12:13 AM in response to RightRoyal

I forgot one trick that I use in Text Edit, haven't tried it in mail...

Before using Paste and Match Style, enter a space chr.

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Answer 5

RightRoyal Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2023 3:42 PM in response to BDAqua

Mail is set to Rich Text for composition.

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Jan 31, 2023 3:44 PM in response to RightRoyal

Anything not Rich Text gets dropped when pasted using Paste and Match Style to a plain text destination.

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Answer 7

RightRoyal Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 31, 2023 3:48 PM in response to BDAqua

Now I'm really confused. I open a MS-Word document and start typing (no copying or pasting etc. or any kind of formatting applied). I copy that to the clipboard. So there's a part in the middle of what I typed that suddenly changes from Plain to Rich text (or vice versa)? And when I paste that, Apple Mail decides to delete that portion. And when I repeat the command, Apple Mail decides to delete a slightly different portion?

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