Numbers PLAINTEXT: Remove Rich Text and Check Text Values
Use Numbers PLAINTEXT with styled labels, hyperlink text and numeric conversion, plus case-sensitive comparisons and clear formatting limitations.
Verification status: See the evidence and test scope described in this guide. How formula examples are checked
PLAINTEXT returns a text value with rich-text attributes removed. The characters remain available for comparison, length checks and labels, while a bold or linked presentation does not become part of the plain result.
It can also convert a nontext value: Apple’s example PLAINTEXT(42) returns the string 42, rather than the number 42. The type difference matters even when the cells look alike.
Availability and version history
- Introduced: The original introduction release and date are not established by the checked references.
- Availability: Currently documented in Apple’s Functions Help 15.4 documentation edition; no final supported-version endpoint is established.
- Scope: Shared iWork reference. Individual historical Mac, iPad, iPhone and iCloud endpoints and imported-workbook parity remain unverified.
- Checked: October 14, 2026, against the official PLAINTEXT reference. Calendar, time-fraction and text checks were independently calculated; no native Numbers test was performed.
Syntax and the returned type
PLAINTEXT(source-string)
The PLAINTEXT reference accepts any value and returns a string stripped of rich-text attributes. There is one argument and no documented default.
The function is about the result value’s rich text. A cell’s own background, borders or number-format settings are separate presentation properties. This guide does not claim that entering PLAINTEXT clears every formatting property of the destination cell or changes the original source cell.
Compare styled text without changing the source
Create PlainLabels, with seven columns A:G and eight rows including a header row. Put Source, Plain result, Is text, Length, Expected text, Matches expected and Matches first label in A1:G1.
Enter the text values below without enclosing quotation marks. Apply bold to the text in A2 and italic to A3; leave A4 unstyled. These style choices distinguish the input presentation, not its underlying characters.
| Row | A: source text | E: expected text |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | REQ-204 | REQ-204 |
| 3 | REQ-204 | REQ-204 |
| 4 | req-204 | req-204 |
Put =PLAINTEXT(A2) in B2, =ISTEXT(B2) in C2, =LEN(B2) in D2, =EXACT(B2,E2) in F2 and =EXACT(B2,$B$2) in G2. Fill those formula cells down through row 4, leaving the manually entered E values intact.
The expected B strings are REQ-204,REQ-204,req-204. Each C is TRUE, each D is 7, and each F is TRUE. G gives TRUE,TRUE,FALSE, because EXACT compares case as well as characters. Removing rich-text attributes does not uppercase the third label.
The source cells keep their own contents and presentation. The expected plain result follows Apple’s function contract; visual rich-text rendering has not been observed in a native test here.
Reproduce the numeric conversion and test its type
Create NumberToText, with six columns A:F and five rows including a header row. Enter numeric 42 in A2. Put:
| Cell | Formula | Documentation-based expectation |
|---|---|---|
| B2 | =PLAINTEXT(A2) |
text 42 |
| C2 | =ISTEXT(B2) |
TRUE |
| D2 | =ISNUMBER(B2) |
FALSE |
| E2 | =LEN(B2) |
2 |
| F2 | =ISNUMBER(A2) |
TRUE |
In B4 enter =PLAINTEXT(42) for Apple’s equivalent literal result. C4 =EXACT(B2,B4) should be TRUE.
This does not establish how every currency, percentage, date, duration or custom-formatted cell is converted to characters. Do not use the simple 42 example as a promise that a particular thousands separator, currency symbol or trailing decimal zero will appear in an export.
Extract the label from a hyperlink value
Create LinkLabels, with five columns A:E and five rows including a header row. Enter this formula in A2:
=HYPERLINK("http://www.apple.com","Apple")
In B2 enter =PLAINTEXT(A2). Apple’s PLAINTEXT example establishes the displayed label Apple as the plain result. C2 =ISTEXT(B2) has expected TRUE, D2 =LEN(B2) gives 5, and E2 =EXACT(B2,"Apple") gives TRUE.
The HYPERLINK reference distinguishes the URL from the optional link text. PLAINTEXT in this example supplies the label, not the destination URL. You do not need to click the link to perform the calculation.
Advanced: compare a changing label with a fixed identifier
On a separate copy named RenamedLink, replace only A2 with =HYPERLINK("http://www.apple.com","Apple Support"). The documentation-based plain result B2 becomes Apple Support, D2 becomes 13, and E2 becomes FALSE because the expected comparison still says Apple.
The URL stayed the same while the label changed. Therefore a plain hyperlink label is not a stable identifier for its destination. Keep a separate source URL or record ID if a downstream workflow needs identity rather than readable display text.
Return to PlainLabels and copy it as ChangedCase. Change only A4 from req-204 to REQ-204, leaving its manually entered expected text E4 unchanged. B4 becomes REQ-204, G4 becomes TRUE, but F4 becomes FALSE. This deliberately different control shows that changing case and removing rich attributes are different operations. Update E4 only if the expected identifier itself has intentionally changed.
Boundaries and useful checks
LEN counts graphemes, including spaces and other characters. All labels here are simple ASCII, so their lengths are transparent; the examples do not measure complex Unicode normalization, attachments or imported rich-text formats.
The reference does not specify a complete error, empty-cell or custom-format conversion matrix. Literal markup characters are not the same as rich-text attributes, and no HTML-cleaning or security-sanitization behavior is established here. Keep sensitive or untrusted content handling separate from a formatting conversion.
ISTEXT and ISNUMBER help identify what a downstream formula receives. CLEAN is a separately documented function; do not assume its character-removal purpose is provided by PLAINTEXT.