How does Google Spreadsheet preserves formatting in external Copy-Paste?

Question

Note: This is on MacOS. I don't know if it is repeatable on Windows.

When I copy a cell to a text editor and back, formatting (and links) are preserved. Even links, while don't appear in the text editor, reappear in Google Spreadsheet.

Try this:

1. Open a Google Spreadsheet.
2. Choose an empty cell and paste a hyperlink formula, i.e.: =HYPERLINK("http://www.google.com/","Google")
3. Copy cell content (Mark cell, then CMD+C).
4. Open TextEdit.
5. Switch to plain text (CMD+Shift+T).
6. Paste cell content (CMD+V).
7. Copy content from text (Mark text, then CMD+C).
8. Go back to Google Spreadsheets and choose and empty cell.
9. Paste text (CMD+V).

BTW, I have tried pasting to Google Docs and it doesn't preserve formatting/link.

What makes this work?

Is it configurable?

Thanks!

EDIT: Performing "Paste and Match Style" (⌥+⇧+⌘+V) in step 6, with or without skipping step 5, didn't make any difference.

Answer 1

What you are seeing is most likely a Google Sheets optimization side effect. Google Sheets has its own web clipboard that kicks in when you copy one or more cells in a spreadsheet.

To avoid that, use Edit > Paste special > Paste values only (⌘+Shift+V on a Mac, or Control+Shift+V on Windows).

Alternatively, as Blind Spots suggests, use the web browser's Edit > Paste and Match Style command (in most browsers, ⌘+⌥+Shift+V).