11
1
I'm copying quite a bit of text from Word into a text-based application, line by line. The word text is structured like this:
Topic
a. Item A
b. Item B
When I highlight Item A, copy, and then paste into the text-based application, I get a. Item A rather than just Item A as desired.
How can I prevent Word from including the bullet letter when copying?
Eric J.
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 1 449
4
The only way I can see that you could avoid include the numbering is to turn it off prior to copy.
Word will generally include as much information as it can in the copy, and it is up to the recieving application to extract what information it can use.
Paul
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 52 173
1But then I lose valuable formatting... I could solve the problem I guess by saving as a text file, but the formatting is very useful while moving data from Word to the external app. – Eric J. – 2012-02-02T03:22:41.603
Disabling numbering should only remove the numbering formatting - am I missing something? – Paul – 2012-02-02T03:26:24.203
1Also... interestingly... if I copy the text 1. Topic, I don't get the numbering, just Topic. – Eric J. – 2012-02-02T03:27:30.190
What is the recieving app? – Paul – 2012-02-02T03:27:58.273
When I have a lot of sub-points (say a. to p.) that sometimes are more than 1 line long (line wrapping), without the numbering, it's not easy to see which lines are a single item. – Eric J. – 2012-02-02T03:29:13.013
But your question is asking that the numbering isn't retained? How would you want these items to be displayed? – Paul – 2012-02-02T03:37:51.640
I want to see the numbering/lettering in Word, but not have the lettering copied into the clipboard (numbering is already not copied into the clipboard). – Eric J. – 2012-02-02T05:27:19.387
2My suggestion was only to disable numbering for the copy action, then put it back (ctrl-z). Not to get rid of it entirely. – Paul – 2012-02-02T05:46:04.630
12
Hold the Alt button and select the text, Ctrl+C to copy, Ctrl+V to paste it anywhere excluding the bullet letter.
sudev pk
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 121
1This works for text that's on a single line, but not multiline. – James – 2018-02-14T17:48:25.080
As of March 2019, this totally works for single or multi-lines/multi-bullets, therefore this should be deemed the correct answer imo. – Studocwho – 2019-03-13T23:22:47.797
2
Old post but had to do it today.
That half empty space (end of each bullet) is the hidden formatting of the bullet. If you copy (double, triple clicking by default), you also copy the bullet or list number.
user3026911
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 21
This only works if you stay within an application in Office (i.e. behaves the same in Outlook). Moving to another app (e.g. Notepad, or the Windows Explorer address bar, or even pasting in a command line) includes the bullet point no matter what. Really frustrating when you're trying to grab network paths from stuff. – Elaskanator – 2019-01-21T15:26:41.220
1
ALT select somewhat works. But it is a block select.
I came up with much simpler way:
copy the whole text from Word into your favorite Text editor (Notepad2-Mod, Notepad++).
Now select and copy only text without any pesky extra chars.
bravomail
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 31
0
At least in Microsoft Word 2010, I can select the entire bullet text except the first character, which I temporarily store in my head, and copy the selection.
Then, when I want to paste the text, I simply type the character temporarily stored in my head followed by a clipboard paste. The clipboard will not contain any bullet.
Andreas Rejbrand
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 756
-2
Instead of selecting the complete text in the bullet line, try carefully selecting just the words. Do not extend the cursor beyond the text and it should just copy the words without the bullet. Little painful, but works.
user3133190
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 1
1This is almost identical to another answer already posted. Can you [edit] your answer to expand upon what is different with your technique? – Burgi – 2016-05-02T02:57:08.873
-3
File -> Word Options -> Advanced
Scroll down to the "Cut, copy, and paste" section
Turn off "Keep bullets and numbers when pasting text with Keep Text Only option
grokster
Posted 2012-02-02T03:04:06.797
Reputation: 115
1This only applies to pasting within Word documents. If you copy and paste to another application this will not work. – J.Steve – 2016-01-04T16:24:02.367
This behavior is the same in Outlook. – Elaskanator – 2019-01-21T15:27:50.820