Share Text Between Documents

When you cut, copy, and paste text, you are not limited to using the text in a single document. You can move or copy text from one document to another.

Any text that you cut disappears from its original location. Text that you copy continues to appear in its original location.

1. Open the two documents you want to use to share text.

2. Select the text you want to move or copy.

   Note 

   For details on selecting text, see the section “Select Text.”

   

3. Click to move text or to copy text.

4. Switch to the other document by clicking its button in the Windows taskbar.

   Note 

   You also can switch documents by clicking Window and clicking the document’s name at the bottom of the menu.

   

   The other document appears.

5. Place the insertion point () at the location where the text you are moving or copying should appear.

   

6. Click .

   The text appears in the new location.

   

Word displays the Paste options icon () to give you the opportunity to determine how to handle the formatting of the selection you are pasting. Click if you want to keep the original formatting of the selection or to apply the formatting of the paragraph where the text appears after you have pasted it.

For text I paste, what format will Word use by default?

The default appearance of pasted text depends on whether you included the paragraph mark, which stores paragraph formatting information, in the selection you cut or copied. If you include the paragraph mark, Word pastes the formatting stored in the paragraph mark. When you exclude the paragraph mark, Word applies character styles or formatting but does not apply paragraph styles.