Keyboard Shortcuts for Paste Special: Quick Guide 2026
Master keyboard shortcuts for paste special across Excel, Sheets, and editors. Learn to paste values, formulas, and formats with practical code examples and workflow tips to speed data tasks.
Shortcuts Lib Team
·5 min read
What paste special means and why it matters
Paste Special is a collection of options that control how content is pasted, such as values only, formulas, formats, or transpose. Using keyboard shortcuts for paste special can dramatically speed up data-cleaning and data-migration workflows. According to Shortcuts Lib, mastering these shortcuts helps you avoid unwanted formatting and preserve data integrity as you move data between apps. The following examples show how to apply paste special in Excel, Sheets, and plain-text editors.
Excel Formula
' Excel VBA: paste values only
Sub PasteValuesOnly()
If Not TypeName(Selection) = "Range" Then Exit Sub
Selection.PasteSpecial Paste:=xlPasteValues
End SubPython
# Python: read clipboard text and treat as plain values (no formatting)
import pyperclip
text = pyperclip.paste()
rows = [line.strip().split("\t") for line in text.splitlines() if line.strip()]
print(rows[:3])Bash
# macOS: paste as plain text into a file
pbpaste > pasted_values.txt
# Linux (requires xclip): paste as plain text into a file
xclip -o -selection clipboard > pasted_values.txt-1dwordcount -1dwordcount