Clean HTML for WordPress
WordPress is the world's most popular CMS, powering over 40% of all websites. When you paste from Google Docs or Word into WordPress's visual editor, inline styles and proprietary classes carry over, causing formatting issues. Use Publish Helper to clean your HTML before pasting into WordPress.
WordPress's Gutenberg editor strips some inline styles on paste but retains others inconsistently. Block editor paragraphs may inherit font-family and font-size declarations from Google Docs, overriding your theme styles. The Classic Editor is even less forgiving — it preserves nearly all pasted inline styles.
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Copy your content from Google Docs, Word, or any editor
- 2.
Paste into Publish Helper and click 'Clean HTML'
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In WordPress, add a Custom HTML block or switch to Code Editor
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Paste the clean HTML output from Publish Helper
- 5.
Preview your post to verify formatting matches your theme
- Use WordPress's Code Editor (three-dot menu → Code Editor) for full HTML control
- Custom HTML blocks preserve your markup exactly as pasted
- Avoid pasting directly into the Visual Editor — it may re-add formatting
- Enable Publish Helper's heading conversion to get proper H2/H3 tags that work with WordPress's table of contents plugins
Why does my Google Docs paste look different in WordPress?
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Google Docs inline styles (font-size, font-family, color) override your WordPress theme styles. Clean the HTML with Publish Helper first to remove these inline styles so your theme typography applies correctly.
Should I use the Visual Editor or Code Editor?
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For clean HTML from Publish Helper, use a Custom HTML block or the Code Editor. The Visual Editor may re-introduce formatting you just removed.
Does this work with WordPress.com?
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Yes. WordPress.com supports Custom HTML blocks just like self-hosted WordPress. The workflow is identical: clean in Publish Helper, paste into a Custom HTML block.
Last updated: March 2026