I wasn't aware that Firefox had a built-in keyboard shortcut to paste as plain text. That would be very useful! But as you say, Ctrl+Shift+v doesn't appear to do anything.

If it wasn't a built-in feature, maybe it was either:

• A feature of one of your extensions (that has stopped working for some reason)

• A feature of particular rich text editors (that might have stopped working due to Firefox blocking sites from using JavaScript to access the clipboard a couple versions back)

Hi Jscher2000

Thanks for the reply.

It's 100% a feature - I learned about it randomly maybe around a year ago.

It has definitely worked for me in the past.

Also, it's listed in firefox's shortcut keys:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-perform-firefox-tasks-quickly?redirectlocale=en-US&as=u&redirectslug=Keyboard+shortcuts&utm_source=inproduct#w_editing

Thanks for confirming it doesn't work though!

Regards,

Gary

It took me a while to figure out where Ctrl+Shift+v works for me, and that is in an element that is set to contenteditable="true" (it doesn't work in normal forms). The most common use for this is a rich text editing control, such as in a webmail site or blog engine. It could be handy for me in some cases, so thanks for raising this question.

But why isn't yours working in those places? Could there be a different extension conflict?

To rule out an extension conflict, could you test Ctrl+Shift+v in Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to deactivate extensions and some advanced features of Firefox. More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

Not all add-ons are disabled: Flash and other plugins still run

After Firefox shuts down, a small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset).

Any difference?

hi Jscher2000

As per my original post, I tested and replicated in safe mode (first thing I did, once I'd discovered the issue).

In regard to "contenteditable="true"", this of course could explain why it didn't work for me. I was trying to post a response on another forum i.e. into a a relatively basic post / thread editor. HTML is apparently switched off in said editor. I tried to switch in on in my profile options but that didn't seem to enable HTML in the editor.

Anyway, the impression I get from you is that contenteditable="true" is not commonly used? Or at least it's only available in select environments?

That's a shame then, because it seems pretty useful for me, to be able to effectively strip out formatting. The only other way I know to do this is to paste text into a .txt file and then copy from there, which is a little cumbersome.

Regards,

Gary

Hi gazzawazza, sites use contenteditable="true" when they want to provide visual formatting while you edit. You can see how this works by making a web page (such as this thread) editable.

First, select and copy this script:

document.body.setAttribute("contenteditable","true");

Next, open the Web Console using Ctrl+Shift+k. It should open in the lower part of the tab below the current page.

Paste the script next to the caret (large ») and press Enter to execute it.

This should make the entire page editable, so you can test pasting in formatted text using both Ctrl+v and Ctrl+Shift+v.

Note: This probably isn't useful on your forum since it may not be possible to submit the form after this kind of hack. Instead, can you find a button there to switch between the code/html view and the visual editor view? Usually it's the visual editor that uses contenteditable.

hi

Sorry. Didn't work.

With my forum's posting editor active, etc, I got some console errors on opening FF's dev tools.

A jsquery and a php error.

I continued with pasting procedure (got the FF warning requiring "allow pasting").

Entered your script and hit ENTER.

Console log showed your script entered (there was a little grey left triangle, to the left of the code).

Next line down was a little grey right triangle and "undefined".

When I tried CTRL + SHIFT + V in the forum editor form, nothing happened, in terms of pasting (should really have pasted your script IMO i.e. there was stuff on the clipboard).

The only action that occurred was that the main webpage jumped to its lowest point.

Regards,

Gary

Some editors use a document in an iframe, so in that case, the script would only affect the main document and not the framed document. But actually my goal at this point is just to test for a conflict with the keyboard shortcut. Are you able to Ctrl+Shift+v on this page, or another simple page, after applying contenteditable to it?

hi again

CTRL + SHIFT + V doesn't work, using your document.body.setAttribute("contenteditable","true"); script.

I've tested again in normal and safe mode.

Having said that, is there a particular point in the page's code where I have to insert it?

I'm using this page to test things btw i.e. I'm trying to use paste as plain text in this reply field.

Cheers,

Gary

Here are some add-ons and there are others also

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/tag/copy%20plain%20text

You can tell when a page has been set to contenteditable because you can click anywhere in the text on the page and type new text, delete existing text, cut and paste, etc. Anywhere EXCEPT inside form fields, since those obey their own rules.

So the idea is, assuming you can paste into the page after making it editable (using Ctrl+v), can you also paste without formatting (using Ctrl+Shift+v)?