Paste (special)

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Paste (special)

There is a more powerful variant for the ribbon command Home | group Edit | Paste paste_icon_18.

If, for example, you have copied text or complete cells and click on the small arrow below the Paste icon, you can use the dropdown menu to specify in which form the content from the clipboard should be pasted.

In detail:

When you use the commands Cut or Copy to save information to the clipboard, it is saved in multiple formats simultaneously. If, for example, you have copied text, it will appear in the clipboard in both formatted and unformatted form.

Normally, you don't need to worry about this because PlanMaker automatically selects the most appropriate format when you paste the content of the clipboard into the document by clicking directly on the icon Paste. Alternatively, you can select the format yourself by clicking on the arrow of the icon Paste dropdown_arrow.

The following options are available here:

Pasting content via the dropdown menu of the command

If you click on the small arrow of the ribbon command Home | group Edit | Paste dropdown_arrow, you will get a dropdown menu with various entries for direct selection:

Paste paste_icon_18: The original formatting of the copied content is retained. This results in the same program behavior as when you click directly on the Paste icon above the small arrow.

Paste unformatted text paste_unfmt_text_18: This option appears contextually if you have copied text. If you select this entry, the original formatting of the copied text will be removed, and it will adopt the formatting of the passage where it is pasted. This option can also be found in the dialog box Paste special (see below).

Paste picture paste_picture_18: This option appears contextually if you have copied a picture. Use this entry to paste the picture from the clipboard.

Paste formats, Paste values, Other paste options: appear contextually if you have copied complete worksheet cells. You will be offered some common paste options that you will also find in the dialog box Paste special (see below).

Paste special: This option opens a dialog box with differentiated options for pasting contents from the clipboard (see below).

Pasting content via the dialog box with additional options

If you select the Paste special entry from Home | group Edit | Paste dropdown_arrow, the program displays a dialog box in which you can specify exactly how the content from the clipboard is to be pasted.

The dialog box displays a list of all formats in which the information currently on the clipboard is stored. If you select the desired format from the Paste as list and then confirm with OK, the content of the clipboard will be pasted in the selected format.

Furthermore, this dialog box offers several additional options, but they are only available if worksheet cells have been copied to the clipboard:

paste_special_dialog

The following additional options are available:

"Paste content" section

Here, you can specify how the content of the cells in the clipboard should be pasted:

Paste cell contents

If this option is enabled, the content of the copied cells will also be pasted. If it is disabled, only their formatting will be pasted.

Convert formulas to values

If this option is enabled, PlanMaker will paste the results of formulas in the copied cells rather than the formulas themselves. So if you copy a cell containing the calculation "=A1*2" to the clipboard, PlanMaker will calculate its current value and paste the result as a numeric value.

Ignore comments

If this option is enabled, comments that have been added to the copied cells will be omitted when pasting.

"Paste formatting" section

These options determine whether the formatting of the copied cells is to be retained when pasting:

All

The cells retain their entire formatting when they are pasted. (Selecting this option enables all the other options listed below.)

Number format

The cells retain their number format when they are pasted.

Cell format

The cells retain their cell format when they are pasted.

Input validation

The cells retain their input validation settings when they are pasted.

Conditional formatting

The cells retain their conditional formatting settings when they are pasted.

Borders, Shading

The cells retain their borders/shading when they are pasted.

"Paste cell dimensions" section

These options determine whether the cell sizes of the copied cells should also be transferred to the target cells when pasting:

Column width

The cells retain their column width when they are pasted.

Row height

The cells retain their row height when they are pasted.

"Options" section

This section contains the following additional options:

Transpose

If this option is enabled, the row and column order of the cells will be reversed when they are pasted. Thus, rows will become columns and columns will become rows.

Skip empty cells

If this option is enabled, all empty cells will be skipped when the copied cells are pasted. Thus, an existing cell will keep its current content and formatting if you paste an empty cell over the existing cell.

Operation

This option can be useful when you paste cells over existing cells. It determines whether the existing values should be combined with the copied values. For this purpose, the four basic arithmetic operations are available:
None: Do not combine the copied values and the existing values. Just overwrite the existing values. This is the default setting.
Add to destination: Add the values in the clipboard to the existing values.
Subtract from destination: Subtract the values in the clipboard from the existing values.
Multiply with destination: Multiply the existing values by the values in the clipboard.
Divide the destination: Divide the existing values by the values in the clipboard.
Example: Copy a cell that contains the value 2 to the clipboard. Then select a cell that contains the value 8, and choose the command Home | Paste dropdown_arrow | Paste special. If you choose the option Add to destination in the dialog box, the cell will then contain the value 10 (8+2=10).

"Paste reference" button

The Paste reference button ignores any settings made in this dialog box, as it has the following special function:

When you copy cells to the clipboard, choose the command Home | Paste dropdown_arrow | Paste special and then click on the Paste reference button, cell references to the addresses of these cells will be pasted instead of the cell contents.

If you copy cell B15 to the clipboard, this button will insert the cell reference =B15.

Tip: This works even if cells have been copied to the clipboard from another document. In this case, PlanMaker will automatically insert an external cell reference. For more information, see External cell references.