How to remove gray highlighting in Word. How to remove text selection in Word

While working in Word, you may encounter a problem when, along with the copied text from a web page, its formatting is also transferred. This problem is quite common, so there are many ways to get rid of it. In this article we will look at five ways to remove the background in Word when copying from Internet resources. They are all different from each other. It should also be taken into account that some of the methods may not work in older versions of the program, for example, such as Word 2003. But more on all this further in order.

Using a built-in function

It is necessary to immediately indicate that the background of a page in Word is not only the color of the page itself, but also various types of highlighting, such as text highlighting, font color and various types of formatting. So, let's look at the first way to remove the background in Word when copying from a website. It will consist of using a standard function in the program itself. But it’s worth noting right away that this method does not work in Word 2003. And in the article, examples will be given on the 2016 version.

Do not rush to use the hotkeys CTRL+C and CTRL+V. This will copy all the formatting of the selected text. First, place the text from the site on the clipboard, that is, copy it in a way convenient for you. After that, in Word, right-click in the place where you want to paste the selected text. In the menu that appears, there is a line “Insert Options”, under it there will be three images. You need to click on "Save text only". Most often it is displayed as a tablet with the letter "A" next to it. After these manipulations, text will be inserted into the document without unnecessary formatting. The page background and font color will be those that are set in the program itself, and not on the website of the web page.

Using Notepad

If for some reason you are unable to use the previous method, then the next one will now be given. I would like to say right away that it is universal. When used in Word, it will be specified by the basic formatting of the program, not the site. And this method is suitable for absolutely any version of the program. The essence of the method is incredibly simple. Before pasting text into Word, paste it into a simple Notepad, which is available in all versions of Windows. After that, copy it from notepad and paste it into Word. This method works because the notepad itself has no formatting options.

Using the eraser

On the Home tab, you may have noticed a tool called Clear All Formatting. It appears as an eraser with the letter "A" next to it. This tool is also great for removing unnecessary formatting.

It's very easy to use. First, you need to select the area in the document that you want to remove formatting from. Once you've done this, simply click on the eraser.

Removing font and fill color

Above are simple ways to remove the background in Word when copying from a website. However, it is worth noting that after using them, the formatting disappears completely, and if you wanted to leave the structure of the text and font, then you will not succeed. Now let's talk about how to remove the background in Word when copying, but leave the font formatting. If you want to remove the font color in Word, you need to use the appropriate tool, which is located on the panel at the top. It's called "Font Color". You can see its exact location in the picture below.

All you have to do is select the part of the text that you want to remove color from and click on the above tool. Then in the drop-down menu you need to select either “Auto” or some other color as desired.

Now let's look at copying. This is done in a similar way, only a different tool is used. It's called "Text Highlight Color". You can also see its location in the picture below. Select part of the text, click on the tool and select "No color" from the menu. After this, the fill will disappear, and the text will remain the same as it was.

Removing a page background color

Now let's consider a situation where, after copying text from a website, the entire background of the page was copied. You can fix this problem in a couple of seconds. You just need to use the appropriate tool.

This time it is not located on the main tab. You should go to the "Design" tab. On the toolbar you need to find "Page Color". This component is located on the very right side of the ribbon. After clicking on the tool, a drop-down menu will open, similar to the one when using the Text Highlight Color tool. In it you need to select "No color". After this, the page background will disappear.

By the way, please pay attention to the tools located on the sides: “Underlay” and “Page Borders”. Most often, when copied from a website, they are not inserted into the document. But if you downloaded it with these elements and want to remove them, then use the tools provided. Working with them proceeds in a similar way.

Word is one of the most popular text editors. The program has earned its popularity thanks to its expanded functionality, stable operation, user-friendly interface and much more. Not to mention the fact that word is part of the Microsoft Office series of programs, which is why it has gained such popularity.

One of the functions of a text editor is highlighting words or pages with a colored background. Most often, users do this in order to mark the most important phrases or sentences. True, sometimes it happens that text with ready-made selections is sent for editing, which for one reason or another interferes with the user. In this case, you need to figure out how to remove the text background in Word.

Page background

There are times when not just one phrase, but an entire page is highlighted with a colored marker. This can greatly interfere with the perception of the document, so the background may need to be removed.

To edit you need to do the following:

  1. In the top quick access toolbar, open the “Design” tab.
  2. Select the “Page Color” function.
  3. Set the value to “No color”.

On a note! How to remove the background in Word 2007? We do all the same steps, only in step 1 we go to the “Page Layout” tab.

Text background

If not the entire page, but only part of the document, is highlighted with a colored marker, then completely different steps need to be taken. For different versions of programs, the sequence of actions differs, so we will consider each of them separately.

To remove the text background in Word 2013:

  • Select a colored fragment.
  • Click on the fill icon (a bucket of paint).
  • Set the value to “No color”.

In addition to this method, you can use a marker. It not only places secretions, but also removes them.

To do this we do the following:

  • Select the “Text Selection Color” tool (brush).
  • Check "No color".
  • Select those fragments on which you need to remove the background.

Typically, you have to remove the background of a document with a marker when the “page color” setting is already set to “no color.”

Now let's look at how to remove the text background in Word 2007:

  1. Go to the “Page Layout” tab.
  2. Open the Page Borders tool.
  3. Select the “Fill” menu and set “No color”.

After all the steps described above, the color tint should disappear.

Table background

When copying tables from different Internet sites, very often an inappropriate bright background remains. If you need to change it or remove it completely, you can use the table editor tool.

To do this you need:

  • Move your mouse cursor to the upper right part of the table. A “+” icon should appear in the corner.
  • Right-click and select the Fill tool in the small editor window that appears.
  • Click on the desired table color or set the value to “No color”.

You can also use highlighters in the table editor. The procedure is the same as in the case of filling.

Background of individual table cells

In the case of separately marked table cells, the color must be removed selectively. The procedure for working with individual table cells is almost no different from the previous version.

In order to remove it, you should:

  1. Select the required table cells with the left mouse button. If they are located far from each other, hold down the ctrl key and make all the necessary selections.
  2. Right-click on one of the selected cells.
  3. Select the Fill tool and remove the color.

In the table editor window, you can set other parameters in the same way.

Removing formatting after copying from the Internet

Very often, users copy a voluminous document from an Internet resource into Word. It may contain not only the background, but also other editing attributes, for example, font, color, etc. If this text format is not necessary, you can remove all formatting at once.

This will significantly save time and allow you to immediately convert the text to the format specified in Word:

  • Select all text or a fragment of it.
  • Go to the “Home” tab.
  • Click on the letter A icon with an eraser (Remove all formatting).

After this, the text will take on the familiar Word format.

Life hack: give text a simple look using a notepad

If you don't want to bother with Word settings, to remove any formatting A regular notepad will help. This program is available on any Windows system.

We copy the text we need and paste it into Notepad. The program will remove any existing formatting, since this text editor does not provide it. After this, all that remains is to copy the text again (this time without any formatting) and paste it into the Word document.

In the modern world, you often have to work with documents, so the instructions described above will certainly be useful to you.

The Word text editor is quite versatile in its capabilities. Thus, it is a high-quality tool for working with text: it can be typed, edited, and various effects can be added. Thus, from ordinary text you can make an official document, or you can make something not entirely formal, suitable for a particular occasion.

I have already talked about some of the editor’s capabilities in previous articles. This time I want to talk about. As you probably know, in Word you can select entire text or individual fragments of it and add one of the effects proposed by the developers to it, namely: make it bold, italicize, cross out, underline, paint with a marker of any color, change the color of the text . Well, I would like to dwell on this issue in more detail, namely, to tell you how to remove text selection in Word.

How to highlight text in Word

In order to remove highlighting from text, you need to understand how it is highlighted, and then everything will become very clear. So, all the highlighting tools are located in the “Home” tab on the toolbar in the “Font”, “Paragraph” and “Styles” subcategories.

For example, to make a word or sentence bold, you must first select this fragment, then click the “F” button in the “Font” block. Other effects are applied in a similar way: by selecting a certain piece of text or even making the whole text one of them, to do this, click on the corresponding button on the toolbar.

How to remove selection in Word

You can remove highlighting from text in not one, but two ways. Let's talk about each of them in more detail.

  1. The first method, of course, suggests itself: the selection is removed by clicking on the same buttons. In this case, the effect is reversed and the selected effect disappears. For example, having previously selected, say, italics, you can click on the same button again and the text will return to its original form. For example, you can remove color highlighting if you click “Auto”; the style will change to the same as it was in the source if you click the “Normal style” button; The marker is removed with the “No color” button.
  2. The second method is somewhat more complicated, it is not so obvious on the surface, it is no less simple and convenient. To clear the selection using it, pay attention to the “Font” subcategory in the toolbar: in its upper right corner there is a small button called “Clear Format”. After clicking this button, the formatting of the selected fragment will be removed and plain text will remain. The only thing is that it won’t work to remove the marker, but in this case you can resort to the first method.

So, easily, simply, and most importantly, quickly, you can remove text selection in the Word text editor.

How to deselect a text line in Word. The text appears as if it was selected with a brush. and got the best answer

Answer from Vidim Vasilenko[active]
1. if you have Office 2003 or lower, then in the formatting toolbar (VIEW - TOOLBARS - FORMATTING) select "Clear format" in the leftmost window, the text should take on its original value.
2 If you have VAVS 2007 office, then to the right of the text number (8,9,10,11,121,14,16,18,20,24...) there is a white icon with an eraser, select the text and click on it!! !
3. Select the text, right-click on the selection (i.e., call up the context menu) and select border and backing, then the word “NO FILL”

Answer from 2 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: How to deselect a text line in Word. The text appears as if it was selected with a brush.

Answer from Oliya Gurkova[newbie]
Thank you


Answer from Angelina[active]
Thank you!


Answer from Sergey Gomzyakov[active]
Thank you!


Answer from Gulmira Temirkhanova[newbie]
Thank you))


Answer from Iratti[newbie]
Thank you!


Answer from Oleg Zatonov[newbie]
Lev Leopardovich Tigrenko Thank you!! Otherwise I was already desperate.


Answer from Iren Novik[newbie]
THANK YOU, I found the answer!


Answer from Andrey D.[newbie]
Yes. Thank you! There was a problem: the text was highlighted as a marker, but nothing could deselect it. In the end it helped, I removed the selection, but the font fell off to another one, but that’s not a problem, I returned it to the original one and OK!


Answer from Liubov[newbie]
Thanks a lot!!


Answer from Alyonok[guru]
borders and fill, on the fill tab


Answer from Andrey -[newbie]
On the formatting tab, there is a "highlight" button.
Push it.


Answer from Anna Dikyshina[newbie]
Thanks a lot


Answer from Anna Denina[newbie]
Believe it or not, I was also confused, I didn’t know how to remove the color fill, I climbed in here and Oh! Eureka! It helped! Thank you :)


Answer from Municipal Unitary Enterprise UKS of Irkutsk[newbie]
Clear format! an elastic band with buttons is drawn. I tried to remove everything through “highlighting with color” or through filling, which at first glance is logical. I don’t use Word often, and there’s always some kind of dead end with it.

Every person who prepares an essay, paper or report uses Internet resources. It’s good if one website is enough for these purposes and the initial formatting is completely satisfactory for the user. But if there are several sources, the design will be heterogeneous: the font and background of the text in different parts of the document will be different. Therefore, let’s look at how to remove text selection in Word when copying from the Internet.

How to remove the background of text in Word?

There are several ways to get rid of colored text backgrounds. It all depends on what goals the user is pursuing.

Preserving original formatting


Now you need to remove the text background. For this:


Sometimes, after removing the background, the text becomes unreadable (in the case of white font on a dark background in the original formatting). To change its color, without removing the selection, click on the “Text Color” button and select the desired value.

With conversion to normal style

This method is much simpler, and also allows you to bring the source formatting to a more official standard. To do this you need:


Also, when initially copying text from the Internet into a document, the editor offers 4 insertion options: “Keep original formatting”, “Merge formatting” and “Keep text only”. To clear formatting, select the latter option.