How to get rid of the grey background from ChatGPT

While ChatGPT is amazing, using it comes with its hiccups. One of the most common complaints is that copying and pasting the text from ChatGPT to other programs, like Word or Google Docs, also brings a grey background to the document. Today, we will show you how to get rid of the grey background from ChatGPT.

Editor’s note: We used an HONOR MagicBook 14 running Windows 11 to formulate these steps. Some things may be slightly different depending on your computer and its software version. 

How to copy and paste from ChatGPT without the grey background

You don’t have to deal with these grey backgrounds! There are ways to copy and paste text without including the formatting. Let’s show you how it’s done!

How to copy and paste without formatting:

1. Go to ChatGPT and request the text you want to copy.
2. Highlight the text.
3. Press Ctrl + C. You can also right-click on it and select Copy.
4. Go to wherever you want to paste the text and select where it’s going to go.
5. To paste without formatting, you can press Ctrl + Shift + V. You can also right-click on the space and select Paste without formatting, Paste as plain text, or something along those lines. The wording changes depending on where you want to paste.

How to copy and paste without formatting on Microsoft Word:

Things are a little different when using Word on PC. For starters, you can’t use the button combination to paste without formatting. And when right-clicking, things look different too.

1. Go to ChatGPT and request the text you want to copy.
2. Highlight the text.
3. Press Ctrl + C. You can also right-click on it and select Copy.
4. Move to Word and select where you want the text to go. Then, right-click on the same space.
5. You will see three small icons under Paste Options.
6. Select Keep Text Only. It is the furthest one to the right, which shows a clipboard with the letter “A” next to it.

How to remove the grey background when you copy and paste from ChatGPT

What if you already pasted the text, and going through the whole copying and pasting process isn’t something you want to do? Don’t worry, you can remove the gray background after the fact. We will show you how to do this on Microsoft Word and Google Docs, which are the two most popular apps where this happens.

How to remove grey background from ChatGPT on Google Docs:

1. Highlight the text with the grey background.
2. Right-click on the text.
3. Select Clear formatting.

You can also go to Format > Paragraph styles > Borders and shading > Background color > None > Apply. You will need to also change the text color if you go their route, though.

How to remove grey background from ChatGPT on Microsoft Word:

1. Highlight the text with a grey background or odd formatting.
2. Right-click on the text.
3. Click on Styles.
4. Select Clear formatting.

FAQs