Formatting Issues

How to Fix Text That Pastes as Small Caps in Word and Outlook

WPS Editor Oct 8, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users experience an issue where pasted text unexpectedly adopts a small caps format in Word or Outlook.

How to Fix Text That Pastes as Small Caps in Word and Outlook

Product: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Pasting text from an external source or another document into a Word document or an Outlook email.
Observed behavior: The pasted text automatically appears in small caps formatting, despite the original source text not using that style.

Before you start

Before making changes to your templates or styles, try pasting the text into a plain text editor like Notepad first to quickly strip away any hidden formatting.

Solution 1Recommended

Clear Direct Formatting and Paste as Plain Text

The quickest way to resolve small caps issues on newly pasted text is by clearing existing character formatting or using the Keep Text Only paste option.

Clear character formatting

Select the affected text in your document and press Ctrl+Spacebar to instantly clear any direct character formatting, including small caps.

Use Paste Options

When pasting new text, right-click the destination area and select 'Keep Text Only' (the clipboard icon with an 'A') from the Paste Options menu.

Check the Undo dropdown

If the text immediately changes to small caps upon pasting, click the Undo dropdown arrow in the Quick Access Toolbar to see which automatic formatting command was triggered.

Clear Direct Formatting and Paste as Plain Text

Formatting shortcut: Using Ctrl+Spacebar is a universally effective shortcut in Office applications to revert text to the default underlying paragraph style.

Solution 2

Check and Update Applied Styles

Ensure that the destination document's default style isn't set to automatically apply small caps to your text.

Solution 3

Recreate the Normal Template

If all new documents apply small caps automatically, your Normal template may be corrupted and needs to be rebuilt.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does text paste into Word with weird formatting like small caps?

This usually happens because Word either retains the original source formatting or automatically conforms the pasted text to a modified local style in your document. Using 'Paste as Plain Text' or pressing Ctrl+Spacebar strips away this unwanted formatting.

Will renaming my Normal template delete my custom fonts and macros?

Renaming the Normal template prevents Word from loading it, which means macros and styles saved there won't appear by default. However, by keeping the renamed file (like NormalOld.dotm), you can use Word's Organizer feature to safely transfer your custom styles and macros back to the newly generated template.

Does Ctrl+Spacebar clear paragraph formatting like line spacing?

No, pressing Ctrl+Spacebar only clears direct character formatting such as font size, bold, italics, or small caps. To clear paragraph formatting like indents or line spacing, you need to select the text and press Ctrl+Q.

Document & File Issues