Convert to plain text(No heading)

Help
1

Hi, I’m a new Obsidian user, and it has only been a couple of days since I started using it.

I’m wondering how to convert text that already has formatting, such as headings, bullets, checkboxes, etc., into plain text with no formatting.

I know I can manually delete the markdown formatting, like removing the “###” in front of a heading, but I was wondering if there is a faster way to do this. Are there any shortcuts or plugins available for this purpose? I couldn’t find the function in the hotkey settings.

I have been searching for a few hours, but I haven’t been able to figure it out. It might be due to my limited English skills and search capabilities. :sob:

Is there a shortcut or plugin that can help me achieve what I’m looking for? Thanks!

2

I would copy the text from Reading View and then paste with Shift+Ctrl+V (Shift+Cmd+V on Mac).

Copying from Reading View picks up the rich text/HTML version, and pasting that way uses the plain text version of it (if Settings > Editor > “Auto convert HTML” is turned off, you can paste the normal way).

3

Thanks for replying to me!

As I understand it, there isn’t a hotkey available for converting in edit mode right away.

I also use Obsidian with my iPhone, and I have noticed that there are heading control buttons, including a “No heading” option, above the keyboard. I was expecting a similar feature on my Mac, so I was just wondering about it.

Once again, thank you very much! :slight_smile:

4

The only command I can find doing a quick search is the Remove heading command.

So you can select your text, open the command palette, and search and choose the command Remove heading to remove the heading. Other formatting will still remain, though.

Theoretically such an extra command could be written, but at what level should it stop? Should it remove code blocks, links (in all its variations), emphasis, list bullets, callouts, checkboxes? At what level will it be too much removed, and you start removing actual contents? I think it would be hard to write such a generic function to a level where all would be content.

In other words, I think it’s hard to define how or what to remove in a general case, and even in a specific case, it would involve quite a bit of logic to properly remove just the formatting and not any of the actual contents.

5

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