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evanoktavianus
Participant
August 6, 2020
Answered

Pasting text from word/powerpoint to Illustrator produce gibberish symbols instead

  • August 6, 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 26359 views

Hi, whenever I paste text from word/power point to illustrator, I always get gibberish symbols like these: !"#$%. The object is recognized as characters in the Illustrator, and I can change its font type and size.

 

Pasting chart however works fine.

 

I have tried using different fonts, including those who I have made sure are available in the Illustrator but I still get the same result. I have also tried resetting preferences, uninstalling the program, uninstalling creative cloud, cleaning adobe installation using adobe cleaner tools, yet I am still getting the same problem. 

 

My system is Mac Mojave, with Office 365 Subscription, and Adobe Creative Cloud (trial version)

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Correct answer Sales21914949agz1

Anw, i have the same problem, and i changed it to Verdana and voila works!

5 replies

Sally-Ann28414872ncyh
Participant
February 3, 2026

Worked for me. Thanks!!!!

mathildek45400641
Participant
March 19, 2024

Hi!
The font that always works is Myriad Pro for me. Nevertheless, it seems silly that basic fonts such as Arial do not paste over. 

 

Participant
March 27, 2023

Hey was following up on this thread to see if any solution was noted. I have been having similar difficulty with copy/paste from ppt to Illustrator on my Mac.

Larry G. Schneider
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 27, 2023

What font is being used in the PPT presentation?

Larry G. Schneider
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 6, 2020

Change the font being used in the PP or word file to something other than Calibri like Times New Roman and try again.

Participant
October 23, 2023

I have the same problem. Type is set in Arial (body). Switched it to Times New Roman, same gibberish.

Anubhav M
Community Manager
Community Manager
November 6, 2023

Hello @SeanMcDade2566668,

Sorry to hear about this experience. Would you mind creating a Text Box in Illustrator and pasting the text from PowerPoint/Word into that to check if it helps?
Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Thanks,

Anubhav

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 6, 2020

Do you have any third party extensions installed in the system that enhance the clipboard?

Is there an option in Word to copy text-only?

Can you try different settings for the clipboard in the Illustrator preferences (in the File handling & clipboard section)? Maybe turn off the SVG option.