Copy Markdown as formatted HTML to the clipboard. Paste it into Outlook, Teams, Word, or any rich text editor with full styling preserved.
Features
- Copy Selection as Formatted HTML — select text in a Markdown file and copy it with formatting
- Copy File as Formatted HTML — copy the entire Markdown file with formatting
Both commands are available via:
- Right-click context menu (in Markdown files)
- Command Palette (
Ctrl+Shift+P > "Markdown: Copy ...")
Usage
- Open a Markdown file in VS Code
- Optionally select a portion of text
- Right-click and choose "Copy Selection as Formatted HTML" or "Copy File as Formatted HTML"
- Paste into Outlook, Teams, Word, or any application that accepts rich text (
Ctrl+V)
The pasted content will include styled headings, bold/italic text, code blocks, tables, lists, blockquotes, and links.
Most application require "Keep Source Formatting" to preserve fonts, colors, backgrounds, and spacing.
Outlook Classic
After Ctrl+V, click the small paste-options icon that appears and select "Keep Source Formatting".
New Outlook
Two options:
- Per paste: Click the Paste icon (or
Ctrl+V), select "Keep Source Formatting", then confirm with "Paste anyway" in the dialog that appears.
- Permanent setting: Go to Settings > Mail > Compose and reply > set "Paste from other programs" to "Keep Source Formatting". After this,
Ctrl+V always preserves the formatting.
Supported Elements
| Markdown |
Rendered as |
# Heading |
Styled headings (H1-H6) |
**bold** |
Bold text |
*italic* |
Italic text |
`code` |
Inline code with background and syntax coloring |
| Code blocks |
Dark-themed code blocks |
> Quote |
Styled blockquotes |
| Tables |
Bordered tables with header styling |
| Lists |
Ordered and unordered lists |
[link](https://github.com/ardimedia/vscode-copy-markdown-formatted/blob/HEAD/url) |
Clickable links |
--- |
Horizontal rules |
| Platform |
Status |
Clipboard tool |
| Windows |
Supported |
PowerShell (built-in) |
| macOS |
Supported |
Swift (built-in) |
| Linux (X11) |
Supported |
xclip (install: sudo apt install xclip) |
| Linux (Wayland) |
Supported |
wl-copy (install: sudo apt install wl-clipboard) |
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85.0 or newer
- Windows: PowerShell (pre-installed)
- macOS: Swift runtime (pre-installed with Xcode CLI tools)
- Linux:
xclip (X11) or wl-clipboard (Wayland)
Known Limitations
- Images: Web image URLs (
https://...) work — Outlook fetches them when rendering. Local file paths (./image.png) will not display because the recipient has no access to your filesystem. Embedding images via base64 data URIs is not possible because Outlook strips data: URIs for security reasons. CID embedding requires MIME multipart, which the clipboard format does not support.
- Language / spell check: The HTML output does not include a
lang attribute, so email clients may flag words as misspelled when the content language differs from the application's default. Automatic language detection would add a dependency with uncertain accuracy — especially on short texts — and Outlook Classic primarily relies on its own proofing language settings rather than the HTML lang attribute.
- macOS and Linux clipboard support has not yet been tested on those platforms.
License
MIT
