You can test whether the process was successful by closing the document, then opening it again.

Making this new original document will prevent the ghost formatting from sneaking into the eventual copy of the document that has your edits marked up. Finally, go to File > Save As again to save the copy of the file that you’ll edit. Then go to File > Save As in the new document. To do this, close the original that you just copied from (the one the client sent you). Now you need to save this document as your original document. This will (hopefully) be what the client was envisioning when they saved the document.Ħ. The text should now be pasted into the new document with a normal appearance. Select the paste option with the paintbrush, Keep Source Formatting.ĥ. Alternatively, you can right-click in the empty document to bring up the context menu.Ĥ. In the new document, go to the Home tab and select the down arrow beneath Paste. Then copy the text either by using Ctrl/Cmd + C or by right-clicking and selecting Copy.Ģ. Select all text, either by pressing Ctrl + A in Windows or Cmd + A in MacOS. Even if you do manage to make the text appear differently, it will likely be back to how it was when you close and reopen the document. You might try changing the font or line spacing, but nothing will happen. Notice how the words ‘ghost’, ‘breaking’, and ‘now’ split across lines, even though the font and paragraph properties seem fine and the language is set to a standard English dialect. Even when you change these settings, nothing seems to work. When a document contains ghost formatting, the font and paragraph settings in the Home tab appear normal, but something is amiss. This post will explain what this means and how to fix it. But have you ever come across a layout issue in Microsoft Word that seems impossible to fix? If so, you may have experienced the spectre of ghost formatting.

When working as a proofreader, you might find that some clients ask you to correct the formatting of a document.

How to fix spacing in word after paste