Formatting Issues

Fix OneNote Adding Large Spaces When Copying and Pasting Drawings

Jason Miller Oct 26, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to prevent OneNote for Windows 10 from inserting excessively large spaces between pasted drawings or text elements.

Fix OneNote Adding Large Spaces When Copying and Pasting Drawings

Product: Microsoft OneNote
Device & OS: Windows 10
Scenario: Copying and pasting drawings or text blocks into a OneNote notebook page.
Observed behavior: Pasted drawings and text render with unexpected, large blank spaces between them, even when the screen display zoom is set to 100%.

Before you start

Verify whether the problem occurs exclusively with specific drawing formats or if it happens universally across plain text and other elements in your notebook.

Solution 1Recommended

Adjust Default Paste Options to Keep Source Formatting

Changing the default paste settings ensures OneNote stops attempting to adapt the copied elements to the destination layout, which often causes spacing errors.

OneNote's default behavior might attempt to integrate drawings using destination text styles, leading to massive line breaks or spacing. Forcing the application to retain the original formatting overrides this behavior.

Open Settings

Launch OneNote for Windows 10. Click the 'Settings and More' icon (represented by three dots) located in the upper-right corner of the application window.

Navigate to Options

From the dropdown menu, click on 'Settings', and then select 'Options' from the subsequent menu pane.

Modify Paste Options

Scroll down to locate the 'Paste Options' section. Change the default setting from the current selection to 'Keep Source Formatting'.

Adjust Default Paste Options to Keep Source Formatting

Formatting Retained: Future pastes will now maintain the exact dimensions and spacing of the original drawings.

Solution 2

Use the Manual Paste Options Button

If you do not want to alter your global settings, use the context menu after pasting to fix the spacing manually on a case-by-case basis.

Solution 3

Isolate the Issue to a Specific Page or Notebook

If the spacing issue persists despite changing paste settings, the specific page or notebook file might be corrupted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does OneNote change the formatting when I paste a drawing?

OneNote tries to merge the copied content with the destination formatting rules. If a drawing is pasted into a text container with specific line height or paragraph spacing rules, OneNote applies those rules to the image block, resulting in unexpectedly large spaces.

Does my display zoom affect how drawings are pasted in OneNote?

While zooming in or out (e.g., 100% or 150%) affects how you view the canvas, it does not actually alter the physical layout data of the page. The spacing issue is rooted in paste formatting rules, not your display zoom.

What does 'Keep Source Formatting' actually do?

Selecting 'Keep Source Formatting' commands the software to ignore the styling rules of the destination page and preserve the exact properties—such as size, spacing, and styling—that the copied element originally had.

Document & File Issues