What the Heck is MsoNormalTable? And How Did it Get in my Post?

Have you ever created a post or page in WordPress and found the following weird code staring at you?

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><br />
<w:WordDocument><br />
<w:View>Normal</w:View><br />
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom><br />
<w:PunctuationKerning/><br />
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/><br />
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid><br />
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent><br />
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText><br />
<w:Compatibility><br />
<w:BreakWrappedTables/><br />
<w:SnapToGridInCell/><br />
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/><br />
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/><br />
<w:DontGrowAutofit/><br />
</w:Compatibility><br />
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel><br />
</w:WordDocument><br />
</xml><![endif]--></p>
<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><br />
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"><br />
</w:LatentStyles><br />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]></p>
<style>
 /* Style Definitions */</p>
</style>
<p><![endif]--></p>

Yeah? Chances are you copied the content straight from Word and pasted it right into the WordPress editor. To prevent this from happening in the future use the Paste From Word feature as pictured below.

Using the Paste From Word feature strips out the Word formatting commands from your WordPress page or post.

1. Copy your content from Word
2. Click on the Paste From Word icon
3. Paste your content from Word into the provided space
4. Click on the Insert button

In the event that you do not see the Paste From Word icon in your editor, click on the Show/Hide Kitchen Sink icon . This will reveal a second row of editing icons/features.

For more information about the Paste From Word feature in wordpress, please see the WordPress Support page.