The nested bullet point indentation levels get lost when copying from OneNote/Word

The nested bullet point indentation levels get lost when copying text from OneNote/Word.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Copy nested bullet points from OneNote. Sample:
    sample_onenote
  2. Paste copied text into Obsidian.

Expected result

obsidian_expected_result

This is how it looks in a source mode text:

-   Level 1
    -   Level 2
    -   Level 2
        -   Level 3
-   Level 1

Actual result

obsidian_actual_result

This is how it looks in a source mode text:

-   Level 1

-   Level 2
-   Level 2

-   Level 3

-   Level 1

The text looks even different when pasted with CTRL + SHIFT + V:
obsidian_actual_result_2

This is how it looks in a source mode text:

• Level 1
	â—‹ Level 2
	â—‹ Level 2
		§ Level 3
Level 1

Possible workaround

  1. Copy text from OneNote.
  2. Paste text into Notion (the indentation levels look correct every time).
  3. Copy text pasted into Notion and paste it into Obsidian.

Environment

  • Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
  • Debug info:

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v0.15.9
Installer version: v0.15.9
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19044
Login status: logged in
Catalyst license: vip
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Legacy editor: off
Base theme: dark
Community theme: Minimal
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 15
Plugins enabled: 15
1: Icon Folder v1.3.31
2: Emoji Shortcodes v2.1.2
3: Calendar v1.5.10
4: Paste URL into selection v1.7.0
5: Collapse All v1.5.3
6: Natural Language Dates v0.6.1
7: Smart Typography v1.0.18
8: Advanced Tables v0.17.3
9: Templater v1.14.3
10: Linter v1.5.1
11: Filename Heading Sync v1.7.0
12: Copy Block Link v1.0.4
13: Minimal Theme Settings v5.3.2
14: Text Snippets v0.1.2
15: Latex Suite v1.5.0

1 Like

What’s the content of the clipboard?
If it’s not properly formatted html, It’s not a bug.

Also, reproduction should be in the sandbox vault.

The content of my clipboard after copying the text from OneNote:

	• Level 1
		â—‹ Level 2
		â—‹ Level 2
			§ Level 3
Level 1

Here are the properties displayed for this element in my clipboard manager (Ditto):
copy_properties

Slight note: if someone copies the text pasted above and tries pasting it into Notion, it wouldn’t produce the expected result. It only works for Notion if copied from OneNote and pasted directly within Notion.

Sorry, I am unsure if it is actually an Obsidian bug, but I wanted to put it down somewhere, since I was unable to find a proper thread around it. Obviously, it would have been great if it could behave as expected, since it could ease the migration for the OneNote users.

What do you mean by “reproduction should be in the sandbox vault.”?

There’s no properly formatted html in the html (a list in html). This isn’t an Obsidian bug.