The single most common publishing problem is pasting content with hidden formatting from another app. Your article ends up with mismatched fonts, weird line breaks, or zombie styles that resist your CMS theme.
The fix: paste only from the .TXT file, and paste as plain text.
How to paste plain text by platform:
- Most Macs: Cmd+Shift+V (paste and match style).
- Most Windows browsers: Ctrl+Shift+V.
- WordPress (Block Editor): paste normally — it strips formatting on plain-text paste, but if anything looks off, click the block menu (⋮) → "Edit as HTML" and review.
- Squarespace: the markdown / text block accepts clean .TXT paste cleanly. Avoid pasting from Word.
- Webflow: use the Rich Text element. Paste in plain text, then style headings with the H1/H2 menu.
- Wix: paste into the Text element. After paste, select all and click "Clear formatting" to strip any leftover styles. Then re-apply your headings.
- HubSpot: the editor offers "Paste from Word" — use plain-text paste instead.
After pasting, do a fast pass:
- Headings show up correctly (H1 once, H2/H3 properly nested)
- Paragraph breaks aren't doubled
- Links carried over (or note them to add manually)
— From Content Matters Labs —You know the work. Writing about it — clearly, in plain English, with the right sources, structured for the way people search — is a different skill, and one that takes weeks per article. We do the writing part. You keep running your business.
Common paste issues:
- Headings didn’t carry over — after paste, re-select each heading and apply your CMS’s H1/H2/H3 styles manually.
- Double line breaks between paragraphs — plain-text paste sometimes doubles spacing. Use your CMS’s “Clear formatting” or manually delete the extra blank lines.
- Links dropped — plain-text paste strips hyperlinks. Re-add them after paste using the .TXT file’s link references as your guide.
- Content still looks styled from another source — you probably used regular paste. Use paste-as-plain-text (Cmd+Shift+V or Ctrl+Shift+V) instead.
Still stuck? Email us at contact@contentmatterslabs.com with your CMS and a screenshot. We’ll email you back within one business day with the answer.