How to Clear Formatting in Google Docs

The steps in this article are going to show you how to select part of your document, or all of your document, then clear the formatting that has been applied to that document in Google Docs.

1. Open your document.
2. Use your mouse to select the text containing the formatting to remove.
3. Click the Clear formatting button at the right end of the toolbar.

Google Docs allow you to customize your documents in a number of ways. Whether you need to set a background image or change the font styling for a selection of text, Google Docs gives you the tools to perform these actions.

Sometimes content that you paste into your Google Docs document will include unwanted formatting. The text might be too large, or the wrong color, when you want it to look the same as the rest of the document.

While selecting the text and manually changing those formatting options is one solution, it can be tedious and frustrating to try and locate each different formatting option that needs to be adjusted.

Fortunately there is a way to clear formatting from a Google Docs document all at once.

How to Clear Formatting from a Selection in Google Docs

The steps in this guide were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser, but will also work in other desktop browsers like Firefox and Microsoft Edge as well.

Step 1: Sign into your Google Drive at https://drive.google.com and open the document containing the formatting you want to remove.

Step 2: Select the text with the unwanted formatting. You can select the entire document by pressing Ctrl + A on your keyboard, or choosing the Edit > Select All option.

Step 3: Click the Clear formatting button at the right end of the toolbar above the document.

Alternatively you can select the Clear formatting option by going to the Format > Clear formatting menu, or by using the Ctrl + \ keyboard shortcut.

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