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In some scenarios I cannot preserve my formatting when copying-and-pasting, though the behavior is not consistent (i.e. sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't). I am aware of the special pasting function to select the option to preserve formatting--it does not work.

This is true no matter where I'm pasting my content (i.e. word document, OneNote, excel). Also it does not matter whence the copied content originates (i.e. web browser, office document, etc).

I have tried reinstalling office to no avail (I use Office 365 for what it's worth). This is on a Windows 10 machine using Dell XPS 15. I have another PC at home that does not replicate this behavior. I fear it could be some software I've installed that is causing this, but this behavior began probably a year ago now and it isn't practical for me to do a system reset back to that time.

I have seen similar questions here:

Edit: I figured out that the problem was an app that allowed me to share the clipboard between my computer and phone (either PhoneLink or KDE Connect, I disabled the feature on both).

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    What type of formatting are you taking about? Fonts, text color, text style, size, white spaces?
    – Robert
    Commented Oct 16, 2021 at 17:15
  • Everything. It's as if I copied and pasted into notepad.
    – Brandon
    Commented Oct 16, 2021 at 17:18
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    To diagnose clipboard problems you should check what data is really contained in clipboard, e.g. using this tool: nirsoft.net/utils/inside_clipboard.html It allows you to see if you have a problem placing data in clipboard or retrieving data from clipboard.
    – Robert
    Commented Oct 16, 2021 at 17:20

1 Answer 1

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This one has been driving me nuts. On the other forums they mentioned some sort of clipboard manager might be causing the trouble.

I run Windows 11 that has Clipboard history turned on. There is a setting in Control Panel > System > Clipboard titled "Sync across your devices". I had that turned on. Turned it off and immediately was able to paste an Excel table with formatted from Excel to email.

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  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Dec 4, 2022 at 1:33
  • This was essentially the problem I had as well. A shame because it was nice to be able to copy between computer and phone but not something I used nearly enough to make it worth it. I think for future people it can be hard to even realize which program is impacting your clipboard, I didn't think of those apps because I used the feature so infrequently.
    – Brandon
    Commented Dec 8, 2022 at 19:21
  • Just for future reference, I had something on OneDrive or maybe OneNote which was causing this behavior which tried to sync across devices. Also maybe it was the Phone Link software from Microsoft which lets you control your android device from your desktop. Finally it could have been KDE Connect. I ended up deactivating multiple of these things at once and couldn't be bothered to try to figure out which one caused it because I didn't need this feature badly enough.
    – Brandon
    Commented Aug 12, 2023 at 17:09

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