Clear Formatting in WPS on macOS helps you remove cell or in-cell text formatting such as font, color, borders, and fill; this guide covers 4 core tasks, with 3 available without membership and 1 membership-related item.
At a Glance
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Core tasks | 4 | Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index |
| Available without membership | 3 | Matches the number of Free rows in the index |
| Membership-related items | 1 | Matches the number of membership-related rows in the index |
About This Feature
Overview
Clear Formatting in WPS for macOS is a spreadsheet editing feature that removes applied visual styling while keeping the cell content available for further work.
Core tasks include:
- Clear Formatting to remove font, color, border, fill, and similar styling.
- Clear All to remove both content and formatting from the selected range.
- Targeted clearing for content, comments, special characters, or partial text.
- Delete Pictures and Text Boxes for embedded objects in the selected area, which is membership-related.
This feature is useful when you need to normalize imported data, reset a worksheet area, or clean up inconsistent formatting before sharing a file.
System Requirements
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating system | A macOS device that can run WPS Office for Mac |
| App status | A current WPS Office for Mac installation is recommended |
| Network | Local editing actions such as clearing formatting do not require a constant connection; sign-in and membership checks may require internet access |
| Other | You need to open a spreadsheet file and enter an editable state |
Download & Installation
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Official download | WPS Office Free Download |
| Installation | Download the Mac installer, follow the on-screen steps, and launch WPS Office |
| Check after installation | Open a spreadsheet, select a cell, and confirm that the Clear menu is available on the Home tab |
Source: WPS Download Center
Compare with Alternatives
| Comparison Item | WPS | Microsoft | Notion | Adobe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capability Summary | In spreadsheets, WPS provides a Clear menu from Home and a right-click path for clearing formatting, content, comments, special characters, partial text, and pictures or text boxes | Microsoft documents Clear All Formatting for selected text, mainly focused on restoring default text formatting | Google Docs documents a keyboard shortcut to clear text formatting, mainly for document text rather than spreadsheet cell cleanup | Notion documents styling and page customization, but the official help page does not describe a direct spreadsheet-style clear-formatting workflow for grouped cells | Adobe Acrobat documents editing PDF text formatting such as font, size, and color, with a focus on PDF text editing rather than spreadsheet cell cleanup |
| WPS Advantages | Distinct: WPS combines multiple clear actions in one spreadsheet-oriented menu and also provides both ribbon and right-click entry points | Compared with WPS, the official guidance is centered on text formatting reset rather than multiple spreadsheet clear actions | Compared with WPS, the official guidance emphasizes document text shortcuts rather than clearing several object types inside spreadsheet selections | Compared with WPS, the official guidance is better aligned with page and block styling than direct spreadsheet cell formatting cleanup | Compared with WPS, the official guidance is better aligned with PDF text revision than spreadsheet cleanup |
| Official Source | — | Clear all text formatting | Keyboard shortcuts for Google Docs | Style and customize your page | Edit text in PDFs |
Overall Conclusion
WPS is more direct for spreadsheet cleanup on macOS when you need one place to clear formatting and related items. Other products provide formatting controls for their own main document types, but the workflow and target objects are different.
Use Cases
| No. | Scenario | Target Users | Core Pain Point | Solution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Normalize imported data | Data organizers | Pasted content brings inconsistent formatting into the sheet | Use Clear Formatting to keep values while removing visual styling |
| 2 | Reset a worksheet area | Spreadsheet creators | A test range needs to be cleared before re-entry | Use Clear All to remove both content and formatting |
| 3 | Remove comments or special characters | Reviewers and editors | Leftover comments or special characters affect delivery quality | Use a targeted clear option from the clear list |
| 4 | Remove pictures and text boxes from a range | Members handling layout cleanup | Embedded objects interrupt the worksheet layout | Use Delete Pictures and Text Boxes |
Membership & Benefits
Free vs WPS Premium
| Feature | Free User | WPS Member |
|---|---|---|
| Clear Formatting | Yes | Yes |
| Clear All, Clear Content, Clear Comments, Clear Special Characters, Clear Partial Text | Yes | Yes |
| Delete Pictures and Text Boxes | No, membership required | Yes |
| Other membership services | Depends on the current account benefits page | Available according to the selected plan |
Source: WPS Office pricing page
Recommendations
| Use Case | Recommended Plan | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday spreadsheet cleanup | Free | Covers common formatting cleanup and targeted clear actions |
| Removing pictures and text boxes in selected ranges | WPS Premium | Includes the membership-related object removal feature |
How to Subscribe
- Visit the membership purchase page: Subscribe to WPS Premium
- Review the currently available plans and benefits before you choose a subscription.
Source: WPS Office pricing page