Clear Text Formatting on OS X

Here’s a quick and easy way to strip text formatting from the OS X clipboard, allowing you to paste an unformatted string.

1. Open Applications/AppleScript/Script Editor
2. Paste the following text into a new script: set the clipboard to (get the clipboard as text)
3. Save the new script into your home Library/Scripts folder as StripClipFormat. Make sure to save as a script (rather than a bundle or application).
4. Launch Applications/AppleScript/AppleScript Utility.
5. In AppleScript Utility, enable Show Script Menu in menu bar by checking the box for this option. This adds the OS X AppleScript Scripts menu to your main menu bar.

The new StripClipFormat item appears at the bottom of the Scripts menu. When chosen, it replaces the contents of the clipboard with an unformatted version of the same text. You can then paste that unformatted text into any program. If desired, use a key macro program such as QuicKeys to automatically select this menu item with a key-sequence such as Command-Shift-V.

Die Dulci Fruere