How to Change the Default Paste Settings in Microsoft Word

This tutorial shows how to change your default paste settings in Microsoft Word.

You can set different default paste settings for content copied from the same Word document, different Word documents, and other programs.

These steps apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2024, Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. These steps don’t apply to Word for Mac, Word for the web, or Word for mobile.

How to Change the Default Paste Settings

1. Select the Home tab.
2. Select the Paste menu arrow.
3. Select Set Default Paste from the drop-down menu.

4. Scroll down to the Cut, copy, and paste section in the Word Options dialog box.
5. Choose a default setting for each of the four situations:

A. Pasting within the same document

B. Pasting between documents

C. Pasting between documents when style definitions conflict (For example, a style conflict would occur if the Heading 2 style was defined as navy blue with a 24- point font in the source document and black with an 18-point font in the destination document.)

D. Pasting from other programs (This includes content copied from the Internet.)

For each of these situations, you can choose one of three options:

A. Keep Source Formatting maintains the formatting (e.g., font, size, color, etc.) of the pasted text.

B. Merge Formatting changes the formatting of the pasted text to match the formatting of the new location, with the exception of boldness, italics, and underlining, which are considered emphasis.

C. Keep Text Only removes the formatting of the pasted text and adds the formatting of the new location.

6. Select the OK button.

You may need to close and restart Word to enact the setting changes, particularly for pasting between documents when style definitions conflict.

Related Resources

How to Change the Default Font in Microsoft Word

How to Change Vertical Alignment in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)