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rformattingrstudiocopy-pasteplaintext

Copy text from RStudio console as "plain text"


Is there a simple way to copy the selected output in RStudio's console as plain text?

For example, I have this output: enter image description here

And then when I select it and copy it to another application (e.g. MS Word or WPS Office) I always get this ugly format with it: enter image description here

I know I can "Keep text only" in MS Word (e.g. pressing Ctrl-T right after pasting) and similar options in other applications, but I wish there were a single hotkey, or if I could just convert all output in RStudio console to plain text by default (because I have no use for its formatting anyway).


Solution

  • I just found a solution that works at least on my present OS, Linux Mint (19.3): Just select text and click with middle mouse button to the place (e.g. in WPS Office or LibreOffice) where you want to copy-paste the selected text. It will instantly copy and paste the text without formatting. (If you want to copy first, click with middle mouse button on the selected text, and then click again with middle mouse button to the place where you want it pasted.)

    Others have said that the Ctrl + Shift + V should paste without formatting too, but that didn't work for me. This combination is supposed to also work on Windows in many applications. Otherwise for Windows you can download PureText that makes copy-paste without formatting super easy.

    (In retrospect I realize this is not necessarily an R or RStudio question, but rather a more general OS clipboard issue. Nonetheless I needed it for R only, so I'll leave the question unchanged: there might be better and more general R-specific solutions in the future, such as making all console output plain text.)