Keep formatting when copying a Richt Text Field

[Oliver_Holtz]

I have a Rich Text Field with a hyperlink in it. When I select the entire field and copy -paste it into a a text editor or other software, the hyperlink gets lost. The same is true for other kinds of formatting, like bold, italic, etc.

The formatting only gets copied correctly if I go in to edit the field, and then select and copy the text.

I use Rich Text Fields and Scripts in order to generate hyperlinks in a field, but without being able to copy them, this is not so much use for me.

[ScottWorld]

I stumbled into this exact same problem yesterday with a client of mine, and it was very frustrating.

I would recommend emailing support@airtable.com to request this, because sadly they don’t pay attention to the majority of posts here.

[Bill_French]

Oliver_Holtz:

The formatting only gets copied correctly if I go in to edit the field, and then select and copy the text.

This is expected behavior and easily explained.

• Airtable uses a variant of Markdown to style rich content.
• Most tools don’t support Markdown and surely not Airtable’s variant.
• Copying the content from the edit window means you are capturing a rendered instance of the Markdown variant - e.g., it’s HTML when you snap such a copy, therefore, it can be pasted in most cases.

[Oliver_Holtz]

Thanks for the explanation. I can see why it would happen. Does this mean, though, that it’s technically impossible to copy the HTML of the field I selected by default, rather than the markdown?

[Bill_French]

Oliver_Holtz:

Does this mean, though, that it’s technically impossible to copy the HTML of the field I selected by default, rather than the markdown?

No, not if you use automated scripting to do so.