Remove All Formatting in Word Without Losing Text

To remove formatting from a Word document, save a copy, press Ctrl+A on Windows (Command+A on Mac), then choose Home > Clear All Formatting. For a more complete reset, apply the Normal style and clear paragraph formatting too. These steps keep your text, but lists, tables, headers, and page layout may need separate attention.

What You’ll Need

A document open in Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365. The instructions below use Word for Windows; Mac menu names are similar, although ribbon layouts and keyboard shortcuts can differ.
Permission to edit the document. If it is marked read-only or protected, you may need to save an editable copy or ask the document owner to unlock it.
A spare copy if the original contains important layout, lists, or tables. Removing formatting can change how the document looks, and not every change can be restored after closing it.

Step-by-Step

Save a working copy. In Word, select File > Save As, choose a location, and give the copy a different name. This preserves the original in case you want to recover its formatting later. If you are working in OneDrive or SharePoint, check that AutoSave is on and consider using File > Save a Copy. A separate copy is especially useful when the document includes complex tables, columns, or carefully arranged headings.
Select the text to reset. Click in the document body and press Ctrl+A on Windows or Command+A on Mac. In a long document, make sure the selection covers the whole main document before continuing. Ctrl+A may select only the text in the current area when your cursor is inside a table, text box, header, or footer. If the status bar or highlighting suggests only part of the document is selected, click in ordinary body text and try again. You can also select a specific passage by dragging over it, then perform the same reset on just that selection.
Clear direct text formatting. With the text selected, go to Home > Font > Clear All Formatting. In many Word layouts, this is an A with an eraser in the Font group. The command removes direct character styling such as bold, italics, underline, font color, highlighting, and manually chosen font or size. It returns the selected characters to formatting supplied by their style or the document defaults. The exact appearance may therefore depend on the style applied to each paragraph; the command does not necessarily make every paragraph look identical.
Apply one paragraph style if you want a consistent base. Keep the text selected and, on the Home tab, open the Styles gallery and choose Normal. This replaces heading and other paragraph styles with Normal, so use it only if you do not need the document’s heading hierarchy. If you want headings to remain headings, select and reset the body text separately, or reapply Heading 1 and Heading 2 to headings after the reset. Applying Normal alone does not always remove every manually applied character or paragraph setting, which is why the other steps matter.
Clear direct paragraph formatting. On Windows, press Ctrl+Q with the text selected. This resets direct paragraph settings, such as custom alignment, indentation, and spacing, to the selected paragraphs’ style defaults. It does not remove paragraph breaks or the words themselves. On Mac, use the paragraph controls on Home rather than assuming the Windows shortcut will work: choose the desired alignment and use the Paragraph dialog to reset indentation and spacing. You can open the Paragraph dialog from the small launcher in the Paragraph group. Menus can vary slightly by Word for Mac version.
Reset lists and other special structures separately. If bullets or numbering remain, select those paragraphs and use Home > Paragraph > Bullets or Numbering to turn the list off. If a table still has colored cells or borders, click in it and use the Table Design tab to choose a plain table style, or adjust Shading and Borders there. Clear All Formatting primarily resets text formatting; it does not reliably remove list structure, table styling, or every object-level setting. Check each structure before changing it, since removing a list or table style can affect readability.
Review the rest of the document and save. Inspect the beginning, middle, and end, including any tables and lists. Headers, footers, text boxes, footnotes, and endnotes may not be included in the original Ctrl+A selection. Double-click a header or footer to edit it, select its text, and repeat the formatting reset there. Click inside a text box or footnote area to select and reset its contents separately. When the result is right, press Ctrl+S on Windows or Command+S on Mac.

For a quick cleanup of one paragraph, select only that paragraph and use the same commands. For a document-wide cleanup, work from the body text outward: main text first, then lists and tables, then headers, footers, and text boxes. This makes it easier to spot elements that were outside the original selection.

Common Mistakes

Expecting one command to reset everything. Clear All Formatting handles much of the text’s direct styling, but it is not a universal erase button. It may leave paragraph styles, list numbering, table designs, hyperlinks, page borders, columns, and layout settings unchanged. Identify which kind of formatting remains and reset that feature in its own controls.
Applying Normal without checking the headings. Changing every paragraph to Normal removes the semantic heading styles that help readers navigate and can support an automatic table of contents. If you need a plain-looking document but still want accessible structure, retain heading styles and change their appearance through the Styles settings instead.
Using Ctrl+A from the wrong place. When the cursor is in a table cell, header, or text box, the selection may not cover the main document. Confirm that the intended text is selected, and handle separate content areas deliberately rather than assuming they were included.
Removing list markers without considering meaning. Turning a numbered list into plain paragraphs can remove the order or hierarchy readers rely on. If the list should remain, keep its numbering and only reset the text appearance or select a simpler list style.
Confusing formatting with content or layout. Clearing formatting does not delete text, but commands that remove links, fields, or list structure can change how information works. Page margins, section breaks, and columns are separate layout settings; clearing text formatting will not automatically reset them.

Tips

Use the narrowest selection that meets your goal. To fix a pasted sentence, select that sentence rather than the whole file. This reduces the chance of changing headings, lists, or intentionally emphasized text elsewhere.
Distinguish direct formatting from styles. Direct formatting is applied to selected text with controls such as Bold or Font Color. A style is a named set of formatting, such as Normal or Heading 1. Clear All Formatting removes much direct formatting, while choosing a different style changes the style assigned to a paragraph.
Preserve structure when sharing the file. A readable document usually benefits from consistent headings, real lists, and clear table labels. If the goal is to make the appearance consistent, consider modifying styles instead of stripping all structure.
Use the Mac ribbon if Windows shortcuts do not apply. Word for Mac has similar Home-tab formatting controls, but shortcuts can conflict with macOS shortcuts or differ by version. Use the ribbon commands or check Word’s Tools > Customize Keyboard settings to find the shortcut assigned on your Mac.
Check links before distributing a cleaned copy. Hyperlinks can remain after text formatting is cleared. If you want a link to become ordinary text, right-click it and choose Remove Hyperlink. Do this selectively; removing a link does not remove the visible words.

Troubleshooting

Some text still looks different: Select the affected paragraph and repeat Clear All Formatting. Then check its style in Home > Styles. If the paragraph still differs, inspect font, paragraph, highlighting, and shading controls; a style or text effect may be supplying the appearance. For a uniform plain-text look, apply Normal, then reapply any headings you need.
Bullets or numbers remain: Select the entire list, including all its paragraphs, and use Home > Paragraph > Bullets or Numbering to turn the list off. If only one item changes, the selection probably did not include the whole list. Use Undo immediately if the list structure was removed by mistake.
A table still has color or lines: Click inside the table to show Table Design. Choose a plain table style or use Shading and Borders to change cell appearance. Select table text separately if its font, size, or color also needs resetting. Be cautious with No Border: gridlines used for editing may differ from printed borders.
Headers or text boxes did not change: They may be separate document areas. Double-click the header or footer, or click inside the text box, select its contents, and repeat the appropriate formatting steps. Footnotes and endnotes may also require their own selections.
The commands are unavailable: The document may be protected, opened in a restricted view, or not fully editable. Check for an Enable Editing button, then look under Review for protection options. If you do not own the file, ask its owner before changing restrictions.
The result is worse than before: Press Ctrl+Z on Windows or Command+Z on Mac immediately to undo recent changes. If you have closed the file or made many later edits, restore the saved copy made before the reset instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Clear All Formatting delete my text?
No. It changes formatting on the selected text, not the words. Still, save a copy first because the document’s appearance and structure can change, and some separate commands affect lists or links.

How do I remove all formatting but keep bold or italic words?
There is no single all-formatting command that both removes every style and automatically preserves only selected emphasis. Clear the formatting, then select the words that need emphasis and apply Bold or Italic again. Alternatively, clean only the sections that should be plain.

Will this remove hyperlinks?
Usually not. A hyperlink is a functional link as well as a visual style, so it can remain after the text is reset. To remove one, right-click the linked words and choose Remove Hyperlink; the text normally remains in the document.

Can I remove formatting from just one section?
Yes. Select the words or paragraphs you want to change, then use Home > Clear All Formatting. For paragraph spacing or indentation, select the complete paragraphs and also clear paragraph formatting. Avoid selecting a paragraph mark unintentionally if you want to preserve its paragraph settings.

Why does the text look different after I choose Normal?
Normal uses the document’s Normal style, whose font, size, and spacing may have been customized. It is not necessarily the same as a universal default. You can modify the Normal style or choose a different style, but changing it may affect other paragraphs that use it.

Does removing formatting reset margins and page layout?
No. Text formatting commands do not generally reset margins, page orientation, columns, section breaks, or page borders. Change those separately from Layout or Design, and review section-specific settings if different pages have different layouts.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

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Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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