I exported my document to spell check it (that’s not working for me and I’ll write another post about it) and when I pasted the updated document back in with match style, the italics were gone. I confirmed they exported fine. With match style, I expect to see my italics make it though.
I would expect all formatting to disappear if you match style. The text you paste assumes the exact format of the text into which you paste it. Right?
It doesn’t in other apps, at least as far as things like italics.
For example, Microsoft Word puts it this way for that kind of paste option.
“Match Destination Formatting: This option discards most of the formatting that was applied directly to the copied text, but it retains formatting that is considered emphasis, such as bold and italic, when it is applied to only a portion of the selection. The text takes on the style characteristics of the paragraph where it is pasted. The text also takes on any direct formatting or character style properties of text that immediately precedes the cursor when the text is pasted.”
Hi Terry,
The behavior you’re seeing is correct, and the way Scrivener’s “Paste & match style” works.
Scrivener’s “Paste & match style” is equivalent to Word’s “Paste Special > Unformatted Text”, which is different from"Match Destination Formatting".
From the Scrivener manual:
If you know for a fact you have no need at all for the formatting you are pasting in, you can use the special Edit ▸ Paste and Match Style command to do so. This will treat the text as though it were plain-text, and as such it will take on all of the characteristics of the text around the cursor position where it is pasted. Since the text is treated as plain-text, this means you will lose any inline formatting and function, such as hyperlinks and italics. If you intend to keep this level of formatting, deferring the problem to later by using the document conversion feature will be a better choice.
HTH,
Jim
That’s disappointing, but your call of course. It’s misleading, though. If you want to say no formatting, just say it straight out. In virtually any other windows program, people will expect emphasis to be maintained when pasted using match style. Writers especially care about emphasis.
But, it’s your program. Thanks.
Hi Terry,
Actually, not my program. I’m just a customer. L&L does answer posts, but these message forums are heavily peer-to-peer.
I’m a Windows user and a writer and I care about emphasis, and I got Paste & Match Style immediately, i.e., I equated it with MS Office’s Unformatted Paste.
So for our sample of 2x careful writers on Windows, we are at 50/50 Was Misled/Wasn’t Misled. 
ETA:
Windows Scrivener currently does not have an equivalent to “Match Destination Formatting”, although the Mac version might. If the Mac version does, then the Windows version eventually will too, as the pending Windows v3 version will be functionally the same as Mac. I just don’t know whether Mac has it or not.
You could request “Match Destination Formatting” be added to Scrivener, by submitting a feature request to the Wish List forum:
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4
Jim
… but instead of doing that you could simply paste the text and at a later stage change its looks, by telling Scrivener to "Convert -> Text to default formatting
The text in the editor can have any fonts and sizes. It doesn’t affect the output, the result from Compile. Scrivener is not a wysiwyg editor, it’s not Word. 
Sorry. Bad assumption on my part. And I don’t know if I feel so strongly as to say I feel mislead. It just feels confusing to me.
I certainly will add “Match Destination Formatting” to the wish list.
Thank you.
Terry
That works. Thanks.
Just to chime in and confirm what has already been said,
Yes this is working as intended, and matches with how the Mac version handles Paste and Match Formatting.
And yes, the wishlist is a perfect place to post a request for “Match Destination Formatting”
(though we would definitely need a different name for that feature - but that’d be on us 
)