# Copy-and-paste rendered version (no markdown) from the editor **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug graveyard\ **Tags:** valuable\ **Created:** [January 4, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252 "2024-01-04T18:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a2jc4life](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/a2jc4life/32/29529_2.png) [@a2jc4life](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/a2jc4life)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/1 "2024-01-04T18:08:56Z")
I’m not sure if this is a real request for a feature that doesn’t exist, or a request for help figuring out how to use a feature that does exist, with or without a plugin, but what I want to be able to do is copy _from_ Obsidian and paste _to_ something else, without markdown. ### Use case or problem I do a lot of my writing in Obsidian, because it’s easy to break it into blocks that way. So I can make each book chapter, for instance, a note, and it’s easy to move things between them. But eventually, I have to be able to copy the whole thing out and paste it into a word processor document – at which point, I find myself having to spend a ton of time going back through the text and manually converting all the text from markdown to its proper formatting. ### Proposed solution I’d like to have some option to “copy as” that will let me paste into a standard word processor with the _target_ formatting. It seems like this should be doable, given that Obsidian can export to PDF and it can display in the reader view as the “final” formatted result. But as far as I can tell, there’s no way to get that reader-view or PDF-output in anything I can paste. ### Current workaround (optional) No known workaround; just a lot of manual reformatting. ---
**Author:** ![Poseidonic](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/poseidonic/32/58208_2.png) [@Poseidonic](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Poseidonic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/2 "2024-01-04T18:37:36Z")
Hello a2jc4life, Even though I do not have a direct solution for converting markdown to its proper formatting as you suggest, I can point out that you can **[copy/paste without formatting](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20220906-00/?p=107124)** using “`Ctrl + C`” to copy and then “`Ctrl + Shift + V`” to paste on your word processor, instead of the classic ‘Ctrl + V’. **This may potentially help you to format faster while waiting for a proper solution** (e.g, instead of deleting the markdown format to put the text in bold, you can directly put the text in bold; instead of deleting the brackets of a link redirect, you can directly insert the hyperlink, etc.). _Note: Be aware that even though “`Ctrl + Shift + V`” is the most common shortcut for this feature, some processors like Word require a button to be used or have another shortcut set for this feature, as suggested on the link I provided earlier._ ---
**Author:** ![a2jc4life](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/a2jc4life/32/29529_2.png) [@a2jc4life](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/a2jc4life)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/3 "2024-01-04T19:40:04Z")
That doesn’t strip the markdown, though, because the markdown doesn’t copy from Obsidian _as_ formatting – it just copies as part of the text. So I end up with text in the word processor that’s full of extra hash marks, asterisks, etc. ---
**Author:** ![rigmarole](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/rigmarole/32/29973_2.png) [@rigmarole](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/rigmarole)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/4 "2024-01-04T20:00:00Z")
(This isn’t a solution or anything, sorry.) Are you copying from live preview mode or reading mode? If I copy/paste from reading mode, I get the formatting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be smart formatting, like headings, etc. At least in Pages in MacOS where I quickly tested. It just pastes it as “default” text with all the styling. And unfortunately, it copies the background color too, from dark mode. It also pastes with double-spacing and adds extra bullets. But at least it doesn’t paste in the Markdown symbols, so it might be easier to then apply some of your document’s style templates. ![screenshot_2024-01-04_02-57-51](https://forum.obsidian.md/uploads/default/original/3X/a/f/af63d0b923b66b449f61867aec9a2b3c0c0febb5.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/5 "2024-01-04T20:04:13Z")
thanks rigmarole, I was about to suggest that (and the relative known bug). I think there is a plugin that does a similar thing from the editor/LP, it’s called “Copy as HTML”. ---
**Author:** ![a2jc4life](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/a2jc4life/32/29529_2.png) [@a2jc4life](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/a2jc4life)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/6 "2024-01-04T20:27:37Z")
Ooooh; never mind. Last time I tried this, it was not possible to copy/paste from reading mode – only from editing mode (hence the issue). But it looks like now you _can_ copy from reading mode, which makes this a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitenoise/32/11_2.png) [@WhiteNoise](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteNoise)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/7 "2024-01-04T20:55:56Z")
I renamed this FR, let’s keep it open. ---
**Author:** ![wja](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@wja](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/wja)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/8 "2024-01-17T19:29:27Z")
Hee-eey thanks @a2jc4life for bringing this up, and everyone else for chiming in. I just did a quick test, and saw the formatting issue @rigmarole mentioned. In Google Docs I was able to use the ‘Clear Formatting’ command after pasting my content, and it removes the black background while keeping the formatting largely intact! So for me, for now, this is a useable workaround that allows me to work in Obsidian and quickly print when I need to. ---
**Author:** ![aaronjz](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@aaronjz](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/aaronjz)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/9 "2024-02-24T22:56:15Z")
Yes, would love to see the export to specific target (like Google Docs) become a feature. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Tanuki505](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tanuki505](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Tanuki505)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/11 "2024-04-19T18:08:25Z")
Let me assure you that your desire to emancipate your text from the shackles of markdown is not merely a frivolous whim, but a pursuit of the highest aesthetic order. Obsidian, while a darling for organization, can leave one’s prose looking like a crumpled discount bin frock. With a Sprinkle of Techno Dust, Tanuki505 ```auto import pyperclip import markdown from bs4 import BeautifulSoup def convert_clipboard_content_to_text(): """ This script converts the content from the clipboard, assumed to be markdown, to plain text and saves it to a file. Installation: 1. Make sure Python is installed on your system. If not, download and install Python from https://www.python.org/downloads/ 2. Install the required Python packages by running the following command in your command prompt or terminal: pip install markdown beautifulsoup4 pyperclip Usage: 1. Copy the markdown content you want to convert to your clipboard. You can do this by selecting the text and pressing Ctrl+C (or Command+C on a Mac). windows + v for clipboard history. 2. Run this script by typing the following command in your command prompt or terminal and pressing Enter: python convert_clipboard_md_to_text.py 3. The script will convert the markdown content from your clipboard to plain text and save it to the clipboard. """ # Get markdown content from clipboard markdown_content = pyperclip.paste() # Convert markdown to HTML html_content = markdown.markdown(markdown_content) # Extract text from HTML text_content = ''.join(BeautifulSoup(html_content, "html.parser").findAll(string=True)) # put the content on the clipboard pyperclip.copy(text_content) if __name__ == " __main__": convert_clipboard_content_to_text() ``` ---
**Author:** ![blue\_emperor](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@blue\_emperor](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/blue_emperor)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/12 "2024-07-17T19:28:07Z")
Google Docs can now (or soon) recognise markdown when pasting: > Convert Markdown syntax to Google Docs content as an option when pasting the text [https://www.howtogeek.com/google-docs-markdown-import-export/](https://www.howtogeek.com/google-docs-markdown-import-export/) ---
**Author:** ![WhiteDwarf](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/whitedwarf/32/73469_2.png) [@WhiteDwarf](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/WhiteDwarf)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 3:11am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/13 "2024-11-21T03:11:37Z")
Trello has a button you can push - why can’t obsidian? Currently copy and pasting from Obsidian, to Trello, then Trello to website or publication. I might have to bring this up again as a fresh post. Nov 2024 and still don’t have a solution. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_emperor](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@blue\_emperor](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/blue_emperor)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 8:31am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/14 "2024-11-21T08:31:00Z")
This might be related topic: > [@How to get the rendered markdown html?](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/how-to-get-the-rendered-markdown-html/91020): > > so i’m new to obsidian’s plugin api. i have been trying to make a simple plugin to get the rendered html version of the markdown out of the view and save it to the clipboard. i have a few really cool plugins and i’d love to quickly copy paste my notes around the web. my issue is the MarkdownView passed to the editor callback only seems to have the visible portion of the html in: view.contentEl.innerHTML. i played around trying to force a full render by calling view.previewMode.rerender(true); b… ---
**Author:** ![macjustice](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/macjustice/32/73996_2.png) [@macjustice](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/macjustice)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 5:06am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/16 "2024-12-05T05:06:35Z")
I’d love to be able to copy HTML or Rich Text simply, like one can do in some of the other Markdown oriented notes apps. I just ran into my annual conundrum of putting together everyone’s wish lists and then realizing it’s somewhat of a challenge to get all my formatting and hyperlinks into an email client. My current workaround (on a Mac) is to install Bear, paste the markdown formatted text in there, then use the “Copy as Rich Text” to make it acceptable for Mimestream/Mail.app. ---
**Author:** ![probefahrer](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/probefahrer/32/7494_2.png) [@probefahrer](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/probefahrer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 9:45am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/17 "2025-01-02T09:45:29Z")
My Workaround atm is still [IAwriter.com](http://IAwriter.com) I C&P my obsidian markdown over there and IAwriter lets you copy as HTML or as formatted Text or without format. German screenshot of IAwriter’s edit menu: ![Bildschirmfoto 2025-01-02 um 10.44.44](https://forum.obsidian.md/uploads/default/original/3X/6/a/6abf194236c52ac83ddec9aebdd2550acbd87d30.png) ---
**Author:** ![sspaeti](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/sspaeti/32/20245_2.png) [@sspaeti](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/sspaeti)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 7:59am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/18 "2025-04-10T07:59:33Z")
Google Docs now has `Copy as Markdown` and `Copy from Markdown` ![image](https://forum.obsidian.md/uploads/default/original/3X/c/9/c9ce68186f59b3ec7702a90c57331421ef167eb8.png) PS: Make sure you enabled it in `Preferences -> General -> Enable Markdown`. My workflow: 1. Open a new sheet with [https://docs.new/](https://docs.new/) 2. `paste from Markdown`. This works even with images. Convert back to Markdown works also great. If I am offline, I go into reader mode and copy text as is, works not that great but for small listings OK. Or I use Pandoc to export to LibreOffice, which works best for large notes keeping all formatting like heading, italic, etc., only images are lost (sometimes they work too). I am still waiting to `copy to Rich Text` within Obsidian, but that does not exist yet, only `copy as HTML` with [this plugin](https://github.com/mvdkwast/obsidian-copy-as-html), which isn’t that useful to be honest. I documented it more [here](https://www.ssp.sh/brain/convert-markdown-to-rich-text-google-docs). ---
**Author:** ![Ham\_n\_pineapple](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@Ham\_n\_pineapple](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Ham_n_pineapple)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/19 "2025-04-10T13:11:13Z")
> [@a2jc4life](#): > > But eventually, I have to be able to copy the whole thing out and paste it into a word processor document – at which point, I find myself having to spend a ton of time going back through the text and manually converting all the text from markdown to its proper formatting. I also have this problem. However, I identified the problem as Obsidian’s inability to export to Word document. There is a plugin for that functionality. But, I have found that it is extremely unreliable to install, such that I can repeatedly follow the installation instructions to the letter, and it simply does not output anything. To what extent do the feature requests overlap? I.e., the request for a native Word document export and the feature request for a copy-and-paste of rendered text. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_emperor](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@blue\_emperor](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/blue_emperor)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/20 "2025-04-10T20:03:39Z")
> [@Ham\_n\_pineapple](#): > > To what extent do the feature requests overlap? Why do you want to know this? I think most of Obsidian enthusiasts would be happy to see this _copy rendered_ feature implemented. Google Docs offers some hybric workflows with markdown although this native feature would yield wider support across different document processors (MS Word, Pages, LibreOffice). Notably LibreOffice is available in Linux and these mentioned software can be operated offline by default. ---
**Author:** ![bwat47](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/bwat47/32/79069_2.png) [@bwat47](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/bwat47)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/21 "2025-04-10T20:43:03Z")
This is definitely a big pain point with obsidian. _On Paper_ copying from the ‘Reading View’ does what you’re looking for… but the problem is that this just doesn’t work very well. For example, if I copy text from the reading view into an Outlook email, it loses almost all the formatting. Basic stuff like Bold and Italic text doesn’t come over. The only way I can reliably copy text with intact formatting into apps like Outlook, Word, etc… is using the ‘Copy Document as HTML’ plugin… seems kind of ridiculous to require a plugin for what should be basic functionality. ---
**Author:** ![Ham\_n\_pineapple](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@Ham\_n\_pineapple](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Ham_n_pineapple)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252/22 "2025-04-11T15:50:49Z")
> [@blue\_emperor](#): > > > [@Ham\_n\_pineapple](#): > > > > To what extent do the feature requests overlap? > > Why do you want to know this? My question was not a rhetorical one aimed at shifting support towards a different feature; I think the present feature request is a good idea and I support it. Rather, my question was asked for the sake of interesting discussion: exploring which functionality would best suit my uses of the software, and comparing that against what other users want. [Next page](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/copy-and-paste-rendered-version-no-markdown-from-the-editor/74252.md?page=2)