[FEATURE] Prefer plain text over image when pasting from rich text sources (e.g. Word, Excel)

[ida-ozarowska]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

When copying text from Microsoft Word or Excel (macOS) and pasting into the Claude Code chat panel in VS Code, the content is always pasted as an image. Currently, ⌘⇧V (paste as plain text) does not work in the chat panel either.

Proposed Solution

Implement clipboard format detection that prefers text/plain over image when both representations are available. Ensure ⌘⇧V works in the chat panel as a paste-as-plain-text fallback.

Alternatively, a setting like claudeCode.pastePreference: "text" | "image" | "auto" would let users control this behavior.

Alternative Solutions

Tried:

• ⌘⇧V (paste as plain text) – does not work in the chat panel, still pastes as image
• VS Code setting editor.pasteAs.preferredType: "text" – has no effect on the chat panel (it's a webview, not a standard editor)
• Pasting through an intermediary (e.g. TextEdit, browser address bar) – works, but defeats the purpose of a seamless workflow

Currently using:
There is no viable workaround. We either paste via an intermediary app or skip pasting altogether and ask Claude to fetch the file directly from SharePoint via MCP.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

Interactive mode (TUI)

Use Case Example

Marketing and content teams frequently draft in Word/Google Docs, work with data from Excel, and paste excerpts into Claude Code for review, editing, or processing. The current behavior provides no way to paste as plain text – the chat input always interprets clipboard content from these sources as an image.

Additional Context

Environment

macOS (Darwin 24.6.0)
VS Code with Claude Code extension
Source: Microsoft Word (.docx)

[github-actions]

Found 1 possible duplicate issue:

1. [Feature Request] Support Command+V for clipboard image pasting on macOS #33577

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[ida-ozarowska]

Not a duplicate. #33577 is about supporting ⌘V for pasting images (screenshots). This issue is the opposite – when pasting from Word/Excel, the clipboard contains text that should be pasted as text, but the chat panel incorrectly interprets it as an image.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[copilot-2025]

+1. Still relevant.

I'm having to copy cells from Excel, paste them into notepad, copy them again from notepad, then finally they can be copied across into the Claude Code interface without being an attached png.

[benbenz]

+1. Still relevant

[IJS1016]

+1. Still relevant