Users of Microsoft Word are familiar with the situation when you paste a text fragment into an existing formatted text and all the elaborate formatting is lost. It looks like this problem is finally a thing of the past. From now on, Microsoft Word is able to merge text formatting with the current document by default.
Unlike the previous default setting of «keep original formatting», the «merge formatting» option preserves the original bold and underlined text, as well as the list and table structure. But it also changes the visual aspects of the text, such as the font family, size, and color, to match the document the user is working on. This is to prevent you from messing up the formatting of the entire document when you paste text from another source.
Previously, it was possible to select the «merge formatting» option from Word’s paste menu, but this was not the default setting. If you want to continue to use the «keep original formatting» option as the default, you can change the settings: «File» > «Preferences» > «Advanced» > «Cut, Copy, and Paste» and then select the drop-down menu «Paste from another program». From there, choose «Keep original formatting».
Starting last year, Microsoft began supporting the Control + Shift + V keyboard shortcut, which allows you to paste text without formatting.
Source: The Verge