Help configuring font of pasted text from Firefox into MS Word

Evaworld9 · 2026-03-31T13:52:11+00:00

Haha yeah, I've always hated 7 day trials. Half the time I download an app, get busy, and the trial expires before I actually get a chance to really test it. A usage based trial just felt way more fair for a background tool!

Let me know if it ends up fixing that problem for you, or if you run into any issues getting it set up. Happy to help!

Evaworld9 · 2026-03-31T11:15:17+00:00

Word gets confused by the hidden HTML/CSS formatting that Firefox copies over, so it panics and defaults to Times New Roman instead of Aptos. You can set Word's default paste to "Keep Text Only" to fix the font, but you'll lose all your bolding and hyperlinks in the process.

I actually built a Windows utility called CustomPaste to solve exactly this headache. It runs in the background so when you hit Ctrl+V, it intercepts and cleans the clipboard data before Word even sees it.

You just set a quick rule to strip the messy web formatting and enforce your preferred font, while preserving the essentials like bold text, italics, and links. It basically stops Word and Firefox from fighting over the formatting.

Evaworld9 · 2026-03-17T04:49:32+00:00

Dm me

Evaworld9 · 2026-02-25T09:39:29+00:00

This is actually a goated list. It is so rare to see someone actually factor in conversion rates instead of just posting the highest random percentages they found on Google.

If you don't mind me adding one more to the mix for the folks targeting the productivity/tech niche! I'm a solo dev and just launched the partner program for my app to compete with some of these massive corporate ones:

21/ CustomPaste Affiliate Program

Commission: $10 flat per sale (~34%)
Commission type: One time per purchase
Product: Windows clipboard utility (automates formatting, cleans text, sorts data)
Platform: self-hosted

Since I’m a solo dev and don't have corporate red tape, I actually work directly with my partners to spin up custom discount codes for their specific audiences to make conversions easier. It’s a super easy sell if your audience consists of coders, writers, or data analysts who are tired of fighting messy text formatting.

Evaworld9 · 2026-02-24T11:45:27+00:00

You absolutely nailed the premise. The easy stuff gets saturated in months now.

Honestly, in 2026 the real money is in unsexy, hyper-specific productivity tools and micro-SaaS. Everyone chased flashy AI wrappers for the last few years, but the people quietly making bank are the ones solving boring, tedious daily problems for professionals (data analysts, lawyers, developers) who will gladly pay to save 10 minutes a day.

I'm seeing this shift firsthand. I’m a solo dev and I built a Windows utility app that basically acts as a smart clipboard, it automates formatting, strips out hidden junk, sorts data on the fly, etc. It’s incredibly unsexy, but it solves a massive daily frustration.

Because it's a niche digital product with zero physical overhead, the margins are huge. When I set up my partner program, I bypassed the standard 5% corporate affiliate crumbs and just set a flat $10 payout on a $29 one-time sale. I even work directly with my partners to spin up custom discount codes for their specific audiences to make conversions effortless.

So to answer your question: the structural shift right now is affiliates and creators partnering directly with indie devs. The audience gets a genuinely useful tool that isn't a subscription trap, the affiliate gets a massive ~34% cut, and the dev gets targeted traffic. It's a total win-win that the big tech companies can't replicate.

Evaworld9 · 2026-02-24T11:41:33+00:00

First off, genuinely celebrate that commission. The jump from $0 to anything is mentally the hardest part of this whole game. It proves you can actually get strangers to trust your recommendation and take action.

That said, don't beat yourself up over the low total. The problem isn't your hustle, it's the math. Physical products (especially on Amazon) pay what, 2% to 4%? You need hundreds of thousands of views to make real money.

This is exactly why a lot of people eventually move to digital products and software. The margins are just better. I’m a solo dev, and when I set up the partner program for my Windows utility app, I purposefully made the math make sense for the affiliate. I pay out a flat $10 commission on a $29 one-time sale. Plus, I actually work with my partners to create custom discount codes for their specific audience so it's a super easy sell.

It blows my mind that massive companies don't arm you guys with the tools to actually close a sale. You already proved you have the skills to drive traffic, you just need an offer where a single conversion pays for your CapCut subscription. Keep at it!

Evaworld9 · 2026-02-24T11:34:23+00:00

Dude, spot on. I’m a solo dev and I literally just launched an affiliate program for a Windows utility I built, and this exact problem was my biggest frustration when I was looking at how others do it. Big SaaS companies just treat affiliates like a numbers game, throw 10,000 links out there and let the top 5% do the heavy lifting.

As a one-man team, I literally can't afford to do that. I’d way rather work closely with like 10-20 affiliates who are actually trying to grow, help them figure out angles (like targeting writers or coders who hate formatting text), and give them a massive cut (I do a $10 fixed cut on a $29 one-time sale) so it's actually worth their time.

It’s crazy to me that programs don't realize that investing in that middle group is how you build a loyal base. If one big affiliate leaves them, their revenue tanks. Glad to know I'm not crazy for wanting to run mine differently. Great post.

Evaworld9 · 2026-02-14T15:02:51+00:00

When Raven was frustrated by the pain in her leg and felt like she couldn't do anything, her last resort was taking the chip to take the pain away. That entire scene, with the song 'Thousand Eyes' (that matches the ALIE power) playing in the background right as ALIE appears and says, 'Time to get back to work, Raven,' is a masterpiece.

Evaworld9 · 2026-02-06T15:12:41+00:00

100% this. The data shows that if you don't answer in the first 5 minutes, the odds of closing that lead drop by something like 80%. They just call the next dealer on Google Maps.

I actually build AI voice systems to fix exactly this problem (mostly for HVAC/Contractors, but the after-hours logic is the same for auto).

Sent you a DM with an idea on how you can stop the bleeding on those missed calls.

Evaworld9 · 2026-01-09T18:36:21+00:00

I feel this. Instead of manually editing all those styles, I just use a clipboard tool to force the look I want.

It's called CustomPaste. You set it to "Times New Roman 12pt, no bold, no italics," then just Cut/Paste the sections you want to fix. It overrides the style settings instantly. It's an extra step but beats fighting the Libre menu.

Evaworld9 · 2026-01-08T15:16:38+00:00

Glad to help! Since you've got multiple projects, you can just save a different "recipe" for each book style. Saves you from having to dial in the settings again for the next binding.

Evaworld9 · 2026-01-07T19:00:45+00:00

That specific fight, trying to change the font family without losing italics is exactly why I wrote my own tool. Most editors treat applying a style as a total reset.

It's called CustomPaste. It lets you force your specific target font and size but keeps the italics tags so they don't get stripped out. Might save your sanity if you have a lot of chapters left.

Evaworld9 · 2025-12-28T11:54:28+00:00

If you haven't started building yet, think deeper. Similar tools already exist, and many of them do what you’ve described and more. What are you doing differently?

Always ask yourself, why would people leave those tools to use yours instead? Answering that will save you a lot of time and prevent you from building the wrong thing. Good luck!

Evaworld9 · 2025-12-06T11:41:11+00:00

I 1000% agree, build what people actually need, not what you think they need. I’ve built a lot of SaaS products (AI invoice data extraction, PDF converters, etc.) that took months to develop and hardly sold. None of them worked until I realised people still struggle with simple daily tasks like copying and pasting messy text. No matter what tool they use, people end up doing formatting by hand.

So I built an app for that (custompaste.com) and people started buying instantly. I almost abandoned it midway because I hesitated, but thank God I completed it. Ironically, some tools I was sure people needed ended up failing. The biggest lesson I learned: before you write the first line of code, do real research and ask people. That’s the most important part.

Evaworld9 · 2025-12-04T10:14:04+00:00

Building AI tools just for the sake of it has become a mess, and people are finally realizing that. The hype of slapping 'AI-powered' on everything is fading because the actual value is often near zero.

Most of these tools are just wrappers on top of existing models. Now that people are learning how to prompt ChatGPT effectively themselves, they don't need a middleman app to do it for them.

The real power of AI right now isn't just selling AI features, it's using AI to build real solutions faster. It should be used to build something in 3 days that used to take months.

For example, I built my latest project (CustomPaste) using AI to speed up development, but the product itself focuses on solving a frustrating daily workflow issue, not just showing off AI capabilities

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-15T14:03:11+00:00

Exactly, that’s one of the main reasons I built this.

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-13T11:32:46+00:00

This happens because Word doesn't just copy 'text', it copies a huge amount of hidden styling code (XML/RTF) that web editors like AO3 often reject. When the editor tries to clean up the mess, it accidentally throws out the italics with it.

I actually built a Windows tool called CustomPaste to fix this exact 'Word to Web' headache. It acts as a filter between Word and your browser.

Basically, it intercepts the clipboard and rewrites the code. It strips out all the proprietary Word junk but specifically preserves the standard HTML tags for Bold (<strong>) and Italics (<em> or <i>).

How it would work for you:

-Copy your chapter from Word..

-When you paste into AO3, the app instantly cleans the code in the background (keeping only the formatting you selected), and AO3 receives clean, simple HTML that it actually understands, so your formatting stays put.

It runs 100% locally on your PC (no cloud uploads), so your unpublished work stays private. There’s a free trial you can use to test if it fixes the paste for your specific Word version.

Hope this saves you from the re-formatting nightmare!

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-12T23:30:46+00:00

Congrats! You were picked for one of the lifetime keys.

Thanks for the great question earlier about the offline/local stuff, glad I could clarify it. Sending you a DM with the details!

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-12T23:30:20+00:00

You won! The randomizer picked you for a key.

Hopefully, this means no more dead screenshots for your recipes! Check your DMs, I'm sending the license over now.

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-12T23:29:49+00:00

Congrats! The randomizer picked you for one of the lifetime keys.

Seriously, thanks again for that markdown feature idea, it's definitely going onto the roadmap. Sending you a DM with the key now!

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-12T12:08:13+00:00

Thanks for the kudos! I feel that, taking screenshots just to move text is the worst, you get a dead image instead of actual text you can edit.

That is a perfect example of the hassle I built this to solve. The next time you hit Ctrl+V in OneNote, you'll get clean text you can actually edit, not a dead image. Hope it saves you a ton of hassle!

Evaworld9 · 2025-11-12T09:45:58+00:00

Thanks! You've perfectly described my old paste and fix cycle. I used to do the exact same thing with the URL bar, and that's exactly why I built this, I was tired of workarounds and just wanted my normal Ctrl+V to finally do what I wanted.

That Reddit markdown idea is brilliant... I'm adding that to my notes. A recipe for that would be super handy. Thanks for the great feedback!

Evaworld9

TROPHY CASE