How many times have you copied and pasted something between different programs only to discover that the original text format is what remained? You might have seen strange symbols, weird formatting and different fonts or sizes. I know this can be extremely frustrating. If you handle a lot of content like myself, you need something to help save you time and the frustration.
I’ve recently been adding a lot of content into a WordPress site for a client of ours and wanted to share a helpful tool. Plain Clip is a tool that removes all formatting from your clipboard. It removes HTML code, spaces, lines and any formatting. The best thing about Plain Clip is it is free to use. The unfortunate thing for PC users is that this application is only available on OS X. Just like the name implies, Plain Clip is simple. The application doesn’t have a user interface. So when you “open” Plain clip, it won’t show as a running program on your Mac.
When you first download Plain Clip, you will be prompted with preferences for the application. This is the only time you will see a window while running the application. Otherwise, Plain Clip works silently in the background. So don’t be alarmed when you don’t see anything happen afterwards. Because it runs in the background, you don’t need to quit the program. It functions only when you need it and quits on its own.
So how does it work? To make things easier, I added Plain Clip to my Dock so I can quickly access the application whenever I need it. Once you have copied the text of your choice, simply click on the Plain Clip icon and it quietly removes all the formatting. Hit paste and your text will be stripped of all formatting. It is that easy! Also, with Plain Clip you can create a hotkey or use a launch application.
I love that Plain Clip is super easy to use. I will admit, that it took me awhile to add clicking the icon into my routine. Don’t worry, I figured it out soon enough! It is much easier than pasting your text into a web browser tool to remove formatting. Less steps=more efficiently! I have been using Plain Clip since 2013 and have never had any issues while using the application. My text is always free from any formatting issues.
The only thing that is troublesome is that there is no user interface. While I enjoy that the application runs in the background, I still miss having a user interface. Somehow it adds more comfort knowing that it is actually working. But I guess that’s part of it. Plain Clip is kind of like magic that it just works! 🙂
Want to try Plain Clip for yourself? Download the application here!
