First of all, I have Windows 7 and run Office 2013



I have Word templates that I have created to match online forms that contain tables and text. In the past, on my Windows XP computer with Office 2007, I have been able to copy and paste online forms into my Word templates using "Match Destination Format" with no problem because they look the same. Now, I have a new computer with Windows 7 and Office 2013 the "Match Destination Format" option is no longer available.

I have read that "Keep Text Only" will work, but I have not found this to be true. No matter which paste option I choose, the formatting is all messed up. Is there a setting somewhere to get this to work correctly? Could it be a setting that I need to do in Internet Explorer to properly copy the online forms?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

"Keep Text Only" does exactly what it says: it leaves out anything but text, so it isn't the option you want here (as you have noticed).

Which paste options have been selected at File tab | Options | Advanced (look in the "Cut, copy, and paste" section)?

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

There are 3 options listed under each pull-down:

Keep Text Only
Merge Formatting
Keep Source Fomatting

I have tried all of these and none seem to work. Any suggestions.

The default options (that is, the ones that include "(Default)") should let you just copy and paste between Word documents (you can use Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V).

If you can't get it to work, see if inserting the form, via the Insert File dialog box, works better. To display the Insert File dialog box: On the Insert tab, click the arrow on the Object button, and then click Text from File. (Note that the command is misleading, because it doesn't insert only text.)

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Those option settings are relevant when your copy source is a Word document.
It sounds like you are copying from a browser window rather than Word so I would assume that the Merge Formatting/Keep Source Formatting options are not applicable in that instance.

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

Thank you all for your input. Unfortunately, it still doesn't work. "Guessed" is correct - I am copying from a browser - Internet Explorer. Are there any other suggestions?

If you want a form that should work properly in Word, you will have to create it in Word, for example by using content controls or using "Filling in forms" protection with legacy form fields.

Alternatively, if you just want the visual appearance of a form (no fancy stuff), you can create it with table cells. Just add and remove borders as required.

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I have already created the forms in Word to mimic the forms that are online. In the previous versions of Word, I have been able to just copy the form into word and keep the same formatting etc. I do this so that I can manually make changes to it. Any other suggestions?