When copying and pasting in most applications, the default behavior is to paste not only the content from one document into another, but also the styling. Font, color, text size, etc. will not match the target document.
This is almost never the outcome I want.
Many applications have an option called 'Paste and Match Style', which does properly adopt the styling of the target document. But I find this option frustrating because I prefer keyboard shortcuts to menu clicks, and I can never remember the hotkey. It's long, and turns my hand into a pretzel.
On Mac, the 'Paste' hotkey is simply Command-V (⌘-V).
The 'Paste and Match Style' hotkey (the one I want) is Option-Shift-Command-V (⌥-⇧-⌘-V). 😣
You can see these settings in the edit menu of many applications:
How to swap the default paste behaviors
Here's how to swap the two hotkeys, so Command-V will paste and match style, while also leaving normal 'Paste' in your menu (or available for finger contortions), if you ever need it:
- Open System Settings and search for
Keyboard - In the Keyboard settings click
Keyboard Shortcuts - Select
App Shortcuts
- Click the
+button - Leave
All Applicationsselected - For the
Menu TitleenterPaste and Match Style. Spelling, spacing, and capitalization are important, because the name must match the default application menu item name. - For
Keyboard ShortcutpressCommand-V(⌘-V) on your keyboard.
- Click
Done - Repeat the process for
Pastewith the shortcutOption-Shift-Command-V(⌥-⇧-⌘-V).
Done!
Now, in most Mac applications, Command-V will paste and match the style of your target document.
Here's a typical Edit menu, after the changes we made:
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