copy and paste code with formatting

Is there a way to copy from Matlab editor in a way that preserves formatting, so when I paste into another application it appears just as it did in Matlab? One possibility was if Matlab could receive a Notepad++ plug-in.

I realized that copy and paste works for the Matlab editor, but my actual application was to preserve formatting (font and color) in the Command Window.

[Bob Thompson]

What formatting are you looking to preserve? Text color?

[Larry Brunson]

Color and font. My actual concern was preserving formatting from the Command Window, but I asked about Editor because I thought that question may be more common, and may have the same answer. Then I realized that copy & paste already preserves formatting for the Editor. Does anyone else care about preserving error messages in their original formatting?

[Rik]

A Notepad++ plugin is impossible, since there is no way to know if a text should be red, orange or black, even assuming you haven't changed those colors in your preferences.

I had expected that it would already do that (copy with format) to e.g. Word, but apparently that doesn't. I guess there is probably some Java wizardry you could do to do it anyway.

Answer 1

[Aniket]

Hi @Larry Brunson,

In the MATLAB's new desktop released in R2025a, the text formatting remains preserved when copying from command window.

However, prior to this release, there is no method to preserve formatting. I recommend upgrading to the latest version of MATLAB.

Hope this helps!