How do I prevent microsoft-word from prepending a space when pasting from clipboard?

When I cut and past a single word in word 2003 using the clipboard a space is "helpfully" prepended. How/where do I tell word to stop doing that? I suppose there is a configuration option, but I can't seem to find it.

Here's what I see:

open word for windows 2003 to a new, empty document
type: 'Peter Pan'
select Peter
copy to clipboard
move cursor directly behind 'Pan'
paste from clipboard.

The line now contains 'Peter Pan Peter', I expected it to contain 'Peter PanPeter'

lexu

Posted 2012-08-15T10:29:31.117

Reputation: 1 822

Double clicking a word selects the whole word, I'm not 100% sure but I strongly believe it doesn't select the "helpful space" then. Worth a try. – Bazzz – 2012-08-15T10:54:59.297

@Bazz: The 'helpful' space isn't in the clipboard, it gets added when pasting into word. Setting word's options - as the article Mario suggested I read suggests- prevents the insertion of that unwanted space char. – lexu – 2012-08-22T05:37:03.250

Answers

I don't have Word 2003, so you might have to dig a bit.

The specific options for Word 2003 can be found in this kb article.

You're most likely looking for the very first option listed under "more information".

Mario

Posted 2012-08-15T10:29:31.117

Reputation: 3 685

A link only answer still unedited after six years? – Todd Wilcox – 2018-06-18T20:43:23.337

2Very helpful. I've long been irritated by that behavior and had never found these settings. – Will M – 2012-08-15T15:08:27.073

1I first experienced this with Word 2007 and to be honest i quite like it. Sure, sometimes it's annoying, but you can revert it simply by hitting Ctrl+Z after pasting IIRC. – Mario – 2012-08-15T20:31:42.530

@Mario: thanks for the answer (it worked!) and the <ctrl-z> tip as a 'shortcut', I'll try it out at the office ... – lexu – 2012-08-16T07:01:24.390

The additional whitespace is inserted by a feature called Smart cut and paste.

The link in the accepted answer is here quoted:

click Options on the Tools menu

click the Edit tab click to clear or

select the Smart cut and paste check box

If you want to specify default pasting options for the Smart cut and paste feature, click Settings. You can set default options for Microsoft Word or specify custom settings. This article describes the seven options in the Settings dialog box.

It is quite long, so I'll leave you to the link but for me it was in a different place.

Word for Mac: 2011

Word>Preferences>Edit
Either uncheck the Use smart cut and paste checkbox

or click the Settings button and uncheck the Adjust sentence and word spacing automatically to target the extra space on paste only.

Tip: Searching in the Word prefs dialog is handy, that is how I found it.

enter image description here

John Breedlove

Posted 2012-08-15T10:29:31.117

Reputation: 181

10For people bothered by this in Word 2016, the option is under File -> Options -> Advanced -> Use smart cut and paste. The last option is under the heading called "cut, copy, and paste". You can turn off smart cut/paste there, or click settings and turn off just "adjust sentence and word spacing". – person27 – 2016-11-21T18:25:51.200

2This should be the accepted answer – cowbert – 2017-06-21T13:15:26.777

@cowbert: yes and no! It's the correct answer for Word 2011, but not Word 2003. The question (mine) is outdated. Someone should edit/update it for current Word-versions. Not me, we've switched to other tools some years ago. So I'm out of the loop. – lexu – 2020-01-04T09:51:27.610

You can turn off smart cut and paste (and thereby stop Word from adding the unwanted space after the quotation mark) by following these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and Word 2013 display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.) Click Advanced at the left side of the dialog box. Scroll through the options until you see the Cut, Copy, and Paste section. Clear the Use Smart Cut and Paste check box. Click on OK.

user2211748

Posted 2012-08-15T10:29:31.117

Reputation: 21