Remove Formatting in Word on a Mac: Step-by-Step Guide

To remove formatting in Word on a Mac, select the text or paragraphs, open the Home tab, and choose Clear All Formatting (the A with an eraser). This removes much of the selected text’s styling so you can start fresh. Save a copy first if you want to preserve the original appearance, especially when editing a long or shared document.

What You’ll Need

Microsoft Word for Mac, such as Word included with Microsoft 365. Ribbon labels and layout can vary slightly between releases.
The document you want to edit. If its formatting matters, use File > Save As to create a working copy before making broad changes.

Step-by-Step

Open the document and identify what you want to change. Decide whether you are clearing one word, a block of text, several paragraphs, or the whole document. Clearing formatting from a small selection is safer than selecting everything, because it is less likely to remove useful headings, lists, or emphasis. If you cannot see where paragraphs begin and end, go to Home and click the paragraph-mark button (¶). The marks are nonprinting and help reveal paragraph breaks, tabs, and extra spaces.
Select the text or paragraphs. Drag across the words with the pointer, or click where the selection should begin, then hold Shift and click at its end. To select a paragraph, drag through its text and include its paragraph mark if you also want to reset paragraph-level settings. To select the entire document, press Command+A. In a document with separate sections or text boxes, Command+A may select only the text in the current area, so check the selection before clearing it.
Open the Home tab. If the ribbon is collapsed, click Home or expand the ribbon so its formatting controls appear. Find Clear All Formatting, usually shown as an A with an eraser in the Font area. If you do not see the button, widen the Word window or open the ribbon’s overflow menu; controls can be hidden when the window is narrow. Hover over a button to confirm its name before clicking it.
Clear the selected formatting. With the correct text still selected, click Clear All Formatting. Word removes the selected text’s applied character styling and returns it toward the document’s default appearance. The result may use the font and size defined by the paragraph’s style or document theme, rather than a universal font. Review the selection immediately: the command affects only what is selected, and applying it to a heading or list can change how that content looks.
Reset paragraph layout separately if necessary. The clear-formatting command may not give you the paragraph layout you want, particularly if a paragraph has unusual indents, spacing, alignment, or a list style. Select the complete paragraph, then use Home > Styles and choose Normal to apply the Normal paragraph style. This gives the paragraph the settings associated with Normal in that document. If you need to keep a heading or list, do not change it to Normal just to remove bold or color; instead, adjust the relevant paragraph controls or choose the appropriate heading or list style.
Remove leftover highlighting, shading, or borders. These effects may need separate attention. Select the affected text and, on Home, open the Text Highlight Color menu and choose No Color to remove highlighting. For a colored paragraph background, open the Shading menu and choose No Color. If a box or line remains around a paragraph, open the Borders menu and choose No Border. Check the menus carefully: the current color button may apply a color immediately, while its arrow opens the choices.
Deal with hyperlinks if they remain. Clearing formatting does not always remove the underlying link. If linked text is still present, Control-click it (or click with two fingers on a trackpad), then choose Remove Hyperlink if that command is available. This removes the link itself; simply changing the font color or underline only changes its appearance. For a long document, remove links selectively so useful references remain clickable.
Review and save the result. Click outside the selection and check the text in context. Confirm that paragraphs, bullets, numbering, and headings still make sense, then press Command+S to save. If the change affected more than intended, use Command+Z immediately to undo it. You can also compare your working copy with the original before replacing or sharing the source document.

Keyboard option: In many Word for Mac setups, Control+Spacebar clears character formatting from selected text. It is useful for removing things such as bold, font color, or a font change, but it is not a dependable substitute for checking paragraph layout, highlighting, shading, and links. If the shortcut does nothing, a macOS keyboard shortcut or another setting may be intercepting it; use the ribbon command instead.

Common Mistakes

Selecting too much. Command+A can include more content than intended, and formatting the whole document may flatten headings, lists, or intentional emphasis. Select a test paragraph first and inspect the result before repeating the process.
Confusing text formatting with paragraph formatting. Bold, font size, and font color affect characters. Alignment, indentation, spacing, and list behavior belong to paragraphs. Clearing one kind of formatting may not reset the other exactly as expected.
Removing appearance but not the feature behind it. A hyperlink can remain active after its color changes. Similarly, changing text color does not necessarily remove highlighting or paragraph shading. Use the specific No Color or Remove Hyperlink command when needed.
Using Clear All Formatting on structured content without checking. A heading, numbered procedure, or bulleted list may rely on styles or formatting for navigation and readability. Clear only the unwanted styling, and verify numbering and document structure afterward.
Expecting the text to become plain text. The command does not necessarily remove every special element or document feature. Tables, fields, comments, links, and content controls are not the same as font formatting. Use an appropriate command for the item you actually want to remove.

Tips

Work in small sections. If copied material from a website or another file has inconsistent styles, clear one paragraph first. When it looks right, repeat for the remaining text. This makes it easier to spot whether a particular style or list needs special treatment.
Use styles to keep the document consistent. After removing unwanted formatting, apply the intended style from Home > Styles, such as Normal for body text or a heading style for a section title. Styles make it easier to update several headings together later.
Keep a copy before a large cleanup. Use File > Save As and give the duplicate a clear name. This is especially helpful for templates, reports with multiple sections, and documents shared with colleagues.
Show paragraph marks while diagnosing layout problems. The ¶ control on the Home tab can reveal extra paragraph returns or tabs that make spacing look like formatting. Turn the marks off again when you are finished; they do not appear in a printed document.
Use the specific control for isolated issues. If only a font color is wrong, change the font color rather than clearing every format. If a paragraph has a border, use Borders. A targeted fix preserves other styling that may be correct.

Troubleshooting

The Clear All Formatting button is missing. Make sure the Home tab is selected and the ribbon is expanded. Enlarge the Word window or inspect the ribbon overflow for additional controls. You can also use the Control+Spacebar shortcut for character formatting where it works, but use the ribbon if you need to reset other kinds of formatting.

The selected text still looks different. Check whether the difference comes from a paragraph style, highlighting, shading, a border, or a hyperlink. Select the whole paragraph, including its paragraph mark when appropriate, and choose the intended style from Home > Styles. Then use the specific menu for any remaining highlight, fill, border, or link. Text inside a table cell or text box may need to be selected separately.

Only some of the text changed. The selection may have missed part of a word or paragraph, or the content may be split by a section, table, or text box. Undo with Command+Z, make a more precise selection, and try again. Turn on paragraph marks to see the selection boundaries and paragraph breaks.

The shortcut opens something else or has no effect. macOS and other apps can use keyboard shortcuts that overlap with Word’s. Select the text and use Home > Clear All Formatting instead. If the command is unavailable, check that the document is editable and that you have selected ordinary text rather than a protected field or object.

The formatting comes back after you type. Word generally continues the formatting of nearby text or the current paragraph style. After clearing the existing text, place the insertion point at the end and check the style and font controls before typing. Applying the correct style to the paragraph can prevent new text from inheriting an unwanted appearance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Clear All Formatting delete the words?
No. It changes the appearance and formatting of the selected content, not the words themselves. Still, check the selection before using the command and save a copy before a large cleanup.

Can I remove formatting from the whole document?
Yes. Press Command+A, then choose Home > Clear All Formatting. Inspect headings, lists, and paragraphs afterward. In documents with tables, text boxes, or separate sections, you may need to select and handle those areas individually.

How do I remove formatting but keep bold or italics?
Clear All Formatting removes a broad range of styling, so it may remove bold or italics too. For a more selective result, change only the unwanted property, such as font color or size, using the controls on the Home tab.

What is the difference between Clear All Formatting and choosing Normal?
Clear All Formatting removes applied formatting from the selection. Choosing Normal applies the document’s Normal style to the selected paragraphs. A style controls paragraph-level defaults and can affect spacing and layout, so use it when that is the result you want.

Will it remove highlighting and hyperlinks?
Not reliably in every case. Choose No Color from the Text Highlight Color menu to remove highlighting, and use Remove Hyperlink to remove a link. These are separate from ordinary font styling.

Can I undo the change?
Yes. Press Command+Z soon after applying it. If you have made many later edits, undoing may also reverse those changes, so a saved copy is the safest fallback for substantial revisions.

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