Anyone who has used Microsoft Word has also used the Cut/Copy/Paste feature to move or copy data from one segment of the document to the next. An often ignored function is the Paste Special function has extra features that can save time and improve accuracy of any Word document. (For more information on Paste Special in Microsoft Office see Using Paste Special Within Excel and Creating a Live Link Between Word and Excel.)
Copy and Paste Using MS Word
This example scenario is offered to demonstrate the difference between Paste and Paste Special. A student begins typing a paper for a college class. He wishes to quote a simple paragraph from a website he viewed on the Internet. Using Copy/Paste this is what he does.
- He places the cursor in his document where he wants to copy the text.
- He Alt/Tabs to his Internet browser.
- He selects (highlights) the text he wants with a mouse drag.
- He presses Control + C to copy the selected text.
- He Alt/Tabs back to his paper in Word.
- He presses Control + V to paste the text in place.
Here is what could happen.
- The text is pasted into the document with an indented left margin different from the master document.
- The text is pasted but the font and size of the selected data is different from that of his paper.
- The text is pasted with the above problem plus it was in a text box and the text box was copied as well, displaying the paragraph in a space half the width of the current paper.
Many Word users have seen these and other variations when simply using Paste with selected data from the Internet. Paste Special can help eliminate these problems.
Copy and Paste Special Using Word
Another student is writing a paper with Word. They also wish to copy a paragraph from a site they visited on the Internet. The difference is they will be using Paste Special. She has followed steps 1-5 above to copy the text to the computer’s clipboard. She is in her Word document and clicks on Edit/Paste Special… (Pre Office 2007) or the down arrow under the Home/Paste button (Office 2007) and chooses Paste Special… She is presented with a dialog box with four choices. (Additional choices may appear with non-text data.)
- Formatted Text (RTF)
- Unformatted Text
- HTML Format
- Unformatted Unicode Text
The student will pick “Unformatted Text” and the text data from the Internet will be pasted into the document.
- The pasted data will be the same font and size as the rest of the document.
- The paragraph margins will be the same as the master document
- The line spacing will be the same as the master document
Since Paste Special pastes the text unformatted, the text takes on the characteristics of the document it is entering. In most cases text to be copied and pasted from the Internet will require no additional formatting. Some additional formatting may be necessary if a book title was italicized in the Internet paragraph, it will need to be selected and italicized again. But this is the exception rather than the rule.
The Paste/Special feature of Microsoft Word can be used to flawlessly copy text from the Internet to Word with a minimal amount of required reformatting. In addition to the pasting of text, Paste Special has additional options for use with graphic images, spreadsheets and more. Depending upon which application is using it and what type of data has been selected, the Paste choices will vary beyond those described in this article.
For a Discussion of Other MS Office Applications see:
Excel's Powerful Copy Tool--The Fill Handle
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