How to Clear Formatting in Google Docs (and Copy It)

To clear formatting in Google Docs, select the text and press Ctrl + \ (Command + \ on a Mac), or click Format > Clear formatting. The text goes back to the document’s normal style. To copy formatting from one spot to another, use the Paint format tool (the paint roller) or press Ctrl + Alt + C and Ctrl + Alt + V.

This guide covers clearing formatting, pasting text without formatting, removing just highlighting, and copying formatting. The shortcuts and Paint format steps come from Google’s Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs, Copy and paste text and images, and Change how paragraphs & fonts look pages.

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How to Clear Formatting in Google Docs

Select the text. Press Ctrl + A (Command + A on a Mac) to select the whole document.
Press Ctrl + \ (Command + \ on a Mac). Or click Format > Clear formatting.

Result: Bold, italics, underlines, text colors, highlighting, and font changes are removed, and the text matches the document’s normal text style. If you clear too much, press Ctrl + Z to undo.

There is also a toolbar button for the same command: the slanted T with a line through it.

Card showing two ways to clear formatting in Google Docs — Illustration: two ways to clear formatting in Google Docs.

What Clear formatting doesn’t remove

Clear formatting leaves some things in place:

Links: the text stays linked.
Images: they stay in the document.
Headings and bullet points: These aren’t touched. To turn a heading back into body text, choose Normal text from the style menu in the toolbar.

How to Paste Text Without Formatting

If the formatting is coming from text you copy from a website or email, strip it as you paste instead:

Press Ctrl + Shift + V (Command + Shift + V on a Mac), which Google lists as Paste without formatting.
Or click Edit > Paste without formatting.

Result: Only plain text is pasted. This also drops links. Pasted text picks up the surrounding font. If Docs turns web addresses you type into links, you can turn off link detection in the Google Docs AutoCorrect settings.

Google also says that after a normal paste, you can click the Paste icon that appears to change the formatting of what you just pasted.

How to Remove Highlighting Only

Select the highlighted text.
Click Highlight color (the marker icon) in the toolbar.
Choose None.

Result: The highlight disappears, but bold, italics, and other styling stay. To remove a different single style, such as strikethrough, select the text and apply the same command again; see how to use strikethrough in Google Docs.

How to Copy Formatting With Paint Format

Select the text that has the formatting you want.
Click Paint format (the paint roller) in the toolbar. Google says your cursor changes to show you’re in paint format mode.
Select the text you want to change.

Result: The selected text takes on the same formatting. To paste it in several places, Google says to double-click Paint format, then click it again when you’re done.

Keyboard alternative from Google: Ctrl + Alt + C copies formatting and Ctrl + Alt + V pastes it (Command + Option + C and Command + Option + V on a Mac).

Card showing how to copy formatting with Paint format in Google Docs — Illustration: how to copy formatting with Paint format in Google Docs.

Troubleshooting

Ctrl + \ doesn’t work: make sure text is selected first. Some keyboard layouts put the backslash in a different spot; use Format > Clear formatting instead.
The heading is still big: Clear formatting doesn’t change paragraph styles. Pick Normal text from the style menu.
The font still doesn’t match: the document’s normal style may use a different font. See how to change the default font in Google Docs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I clear formatting in the Google Docs mobile app?

The mobile app automatically drops formatting when you paste text into a document, so pasted text arrives plain.

Is there a shortcut to open the Format menu?

Yes. Google lists Alt + O in Chrome on Windows and Ctrl + Option + O on a Mac. From there, choose Clear formatting.

Related Guides

Using Outlook instead? Here’s how to remove formatting from an email in Outlook.

Can’t see your cursor in a document? See why your cursor is white in Google Docs.

Matthew Burleigh

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.