How to clean your post
- Copy your article from Google Docs, Word, ChatGPT or a web page.
- Click in the big box and paste it (Ctrl+V on Windows, Cmd+V on Mac). If you already have HTML code, switch to Paste HTML code first.
- Type your site address, for example
https://yoursite.com, so the tool knows which links are internal. - Check the options, then look at the Preview to make sure everything looks right.
- Copy the result and add it to WordPress (see below).
Adding the clean content to WordPress
Block editor (Gutenberg)
Click Copy formatted, then paste into an empty paragraph block. WordPress turns headings, lists and paragraphs into separate blocks automatically. Alternatively, click Copy HTML, open the three dot menu at the top right, choose Code editor, paste and switch back to the visual editor.
Classic editor
Click Copy HTML, switch to the Text tab and paste.
Page builders
In Elementor, Bricks or similar builders, paste the HTML into the text editor element's code or text view. Your theme's typography then takes over, so the content matches the rest of your site.
What gets removed and what stays
| Kept | Removed |
|---|---|
| Headings H1 to H6, paragraphs, line breaks | Inline styles, fonts, colours and sizes |
| Bullet and numbered lists | span, div, section and other wrapper tags |
| Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough | Classes, IDs and data attributes |
| Links (href) and images (src and alt) | Scripts, styles, forms, iframes and embeds |
| Quotes, code blocks, superscript, subscript | Word and Google Docs hidden markup |
| Tables, when you tick "Keep tables" | Empty paragraphs and stray line breaks |
Why clean HTML matters
Messy pasted code causes real problems. Inline fonts and colours override your theme, so some paragraphs look different from others. Extra wrapper tags make the page heavier and slower. Leftover styles can break your layout on mobile. Search engines also prefer a clear structure of headings, paragraphs and lists, and clean HTML gives them exactly that.
Clean code also makes life easier later. When you change your theme or move to a new page builder, content without hard coded styles adapts straight away instead of needing to be fixed post by post.
Tips for writers and editors
- Use real headings in Google Docs (Format, Paragraph styles) rather than just bold, big text. Real headings come through as H2 and H3 tags.
- After cleaning, check that links to other websites open in a new tab and that internal links point to the right pages.
- Images copied from Google Docs often point to temporary Google addresses. Upload images to your WordPress media library and insert them there instead.
- Need to tidy plain text instead? Try Remove Line Breaks or Remove Extra Spaces.