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Paste as plain text (cmd-shift-V) doesn't work in Firefox for me

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  • Last reply by apb80

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It works fine in Chrome and other apps on my Mac but for some reason this is not working in Firefox for me.

macOS High Sierra v10.13.6 Firefox Quantum 65.0.1

It works fine in Chrome and other apps on my Mac but for some reason this is not working in Firefox for me. macOS High Sierra v10.13.6 Firefox Quantum 65.0.1

All Replies (6)

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Do you mean the paste retains the source formatting, or nothing pastes? In my experience (on Windows), nothing will paste in an unformatted form field (like this one I'm typing in now); it only works in a formatted editing area.

(The keyboard shortcut is correct as of Firefox 61 - 1233369.)

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So in this unformatted form field, I can paste with cmd-V, but can not paste with cmd-shift-V.

However in a formatted area, like Google Sheets, something even more weird happens. I can paste with cmd-V (pastes same value as it does here), but when I pasted with cmd-shift-V, it pastes a different value (some previously copied text). It's almost like there's an unformatted clipboard and a formatted clipboard.

This doesn't happen in Chrome, whether I use cmd-V or cmd-shift-V it pastes the same value.

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apb80 said

However in a formatted area, like Google Sheets, something even more weird happens. I can paste with cmd-V (pastes same value as it does here), but when I pasted with cmd-shift-V, it pastes a different value (some previously copied text). It's almost like there's an unformatted clipboard and a formatted clipboard.

That's very strange. I've never heard of that happening. Is it specific to Sheets or does it also occur in Gmail?

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

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After testing, this issue is happening in Sheets, but not Gmail. Of course Sheets is where I do the most copy and pasting :\

Could this be a bug I can file with Firefox, Google Sheets, or both?

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After playing with Google Sheets, what seems to happen is:

(1) If a cell is selected (little blue square appears at the lower right):

  • Ctrl+v (Mac: Command+v) pastes the contents of the clipboard, regardless of where you copied from, with formatting
  • Ctrl+Shift+v (Mac: Command+Shift+v) pastes the last thing you copied from a cell in that same sheet, without formatting -- it is like a script that is supposed to retrieve the current contents of the clipboard just skips that step

When pasting regularly, there is a little floating clipboard icon that has a drop-menu to remove the formatting (Paste values only) which perhaps is Google's intended way of supporting the pasting of plain text.

(2) If a cell is in editing mode (there is an insertion bar in the cell, which you can trigger by double-clicking the cell):

  • Both Ctrl+v (Mac: Command+v) and Ctrl+Shift+v (Mac: Command+Shift+v) paste the contents of the clipboard, regardless of where you copied from, without formatting

So a possible workaround is to paste into a cell when it is in editing mode if you don't want formatting. Double-clicking is an extra step, but then Ctrl+v is easier to press.

Maybe post the issue on the Google Docs forum? https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/docs

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Pasting in editing mode does work, but doesn't solve for pasting multiple lines of text. For example sometimes I may want to paste an entire table.

I created a ticket in the Google Docs forum to see what I can find.

Thanks for looking into this, I appreciate it!