About the format of pasted information

Microsoft Office Word 2003

Information you cut or copy to another program is pasted, if possible, in a format that the program can edit.

For example, data from Microsoft Excel worksheets and records from Microsoft Access are pasted by default into Word as Word tables, complete with column widths and font formatting. Text separated by tab characters from Word is pasted into Excel in rows and columns of cells.

If a program can't edit the information, it inserts it as an embedded object. You can use the source program to edit embedded objects. If the information can't be inserted, it is pasted as a static picture that cannot be edited.

ShowThe default format of pasted text

The default format of pasted text can be affected by whether or not you include a paragraph mark or section break in your selection, although you can change many formatting attributes as you paste with the Paste Options button Button image.

Copy a selection without its paragraph mark
The character style and any additional character formats applied to the selection.
Copy a selection with its paragraph mark
The paragraph style and any additional paragraph formats applied to the paragraph. By default, the paragraph mark is included when you select a paragraph, but you can change the setting by clearing the Use smart paragraph selection check box on the Edit tab (Options command, Tools menu).
Copy a selection with its section break
All the formatting for the section that precedes it, including margins, number of columns, line numbers, page size and orientation, and headers and footers.

Notes

  • To view paragraph marks and section breaks on the screen, click Show/Hide Paragraph mark Button image on the Standard toolbar.

  • When you copy text formatted with a specific paragraph style to a document that contains a style with the same name, you will be prompted whether you want to format the selection with the style from the original document, the style of your current document, or format as plain text.