Troubleshoot Composer: Text not pasting correctly into a Content element

When you copy content from Microsoft Word or Google Docs and paste it directly into Composer's Content element, it brings along hidden formatting code that can corrupt your page design, break accordion elements, create extra whitespace, and contribute to the 75,000 character limit warning.

In this article

• Why pasting from Word corrupts formatting
• Use Paste as Plain Text
• Remove bad formatting after pasting
• Best practices

Why pasting from Word corrupts formatting

Word and Google Docs use their own proprietary formatting systems with embedded styles, font definitions, and compatibility codes. When you paste content from these programs directly into Composer, all that invisible code comes along with the text.

This extra code can:

• Override your site's clean CSS styling with conflicting inline styles
• Create extra whitespace and paragraph breaks that won't delete
• Break accordion elements by interrupting the HTML structure
• Change fonts unexpectedly across your page
• Add hidden characters that count toward the 75,000 character limit

Use Paste as Plain Text

The solution is to strip away all formatting before pasting. Use the Paste as Plain Text keyboard shortcut:

• Step 1: Copy text from Word or Google Docs. Select and copy as normal (Ctrl+C or Cmd+C).
• Step 2: Click in your Composer content area. Position your cursor where you want the text to go.
• Step 3: Use the Paste as Plain Text shortcut
  • Windows: Ctrl+Shift+V
  • Mac: Cmd+Shift+V
• Step 4: Apply formatting in Composer. Once the plain text is pasted, use the editor toolbar to add bold, italics, links, colors, and other styling as needed.

This method pastes only the text content, leaving all of Word's hidden code behind.Paste as Plain Text is the fastest way to avoid formatting corruption. Use this every time you copy from Word or Google Docs.

Remove bad formatting after pasting

If you've already pasted content with bad formatting, you can clean it up:

• Step 1: Highlight the affected text. Select the paragraph or section with the problem formatting.
• Step 2: Look for the Remove Formatting button. In the Composer toolbar, find the "Tx" or eraser icon. This is the Remove Formatting button.
• Step 3: Click Remove Formatting. This strips away all the junk code and resets the text to your site's default styling.
• Step 4: Re-apply styling as needed. Use the Composer toolbar to add back bold, colors, links, or other formatting.

This approach removes all inline styles and invisible characters at once.

Best practices

Follow these guidelines to avoid formatting corruption entirely:

• Draft directly in Composer: Create and edit content right in Composer, not in Word or Google Docs. This eliminates the need to paste and avoids all formatting issues.
• Use Paste as Plain Text: If you must work in Word or Google Docs, always use Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+V (Mac) to paste.
• Apply styling in Composer: Let Composer handle all formatting. Use the editor toolbar to add colors, fonts, bold, italics, and links.
• Check for extra whitespace: After pasting, scroll through the content and delete any unnecessary blank lines or spacing that don't look right.
• Test accordions: If the content contains accordions, test them immediately after pasting to ensure they expand and collapse correctly.