Copy text from one file to another

When you cut or copy text and then paste it within the same document or another Word document, you can choose to retain the original formatting or adopt the formatting of the surrounding text where it is pasted. How Word formats a selection when you perform a simple cut and paste from another document is determined by whether the selection includes a paragraph mark or section break.

If the selection

Word applies

Does not include a paragraph mark Paragraph mark

The character style and any additional character formats applied to the selection.

Is a single paragraph mark

The paragraph style and any additional paragraph formats are applied to the paragraph.

Includes a paragraph mark

The paragraph style and any additional paragraph formats are applied to the paragraph. Word also applies the character style and any additional character formats applied to the selection.

Includes a 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.

Do any of the following:

Keep the formatting of the original text

Change the formatting of the original text to match the destination formatting