Pasting from Word
Pasting from Word drags invisible markup into your content and breaks typography, spacing and sometimes layout.
Why it happens
Word places formatting instructions in the clipboard as well as the visible text. Editors paste, the browser accepts what it is given, and the resulting HTML carries inline styles, font declarations and span nesting that fight your stylesheet.
The fixes, in order of preference
What to do
- Paste as plain text where the formatting is not wanted
- Use the block editor's paste-as-text option for imported documents
- Keep a documented style guide so editors do not need Word formatting
- If pasting must stay, sanitise on save and strip inline styles and span nesting
- Audit existing content periodically; the damage accumulates quietly
Why it matters beyond tidiness
Inline styles override your design system, so a site drifts out of alignment one paste at a time. Heading levels get skipped, which hurts both accessibility and how search engines read the page structure.
The durable fix is editorial, not technical. Give people a way to express emphasis inside the editor and they stop reaching for Word.
Talk to us about your project
If you are planning a WordPress build, a WooCommerce migration or a growth programme, we will tell you honestly whether it is a fit.