(Copy/paste from browser for me on Windows 7)
The default behavior for Ctrl+V up to (and including) LibreOffice 4.1.5 / 4.2.2 was "HTML format without comments".
I have noticed the modified behavior for LibreOffice 4.2.3 / 4.1.6:
Ctrl+V default is now "Unformatted text".
Reported as
Bug 78801 - Copying HTML from web browser - only plain text is pasted.
Status: RESOLVED FIXED (LibreOffice 4.2.5 / 4.3.0 beta 2 / 4.4.0).
Patch successfully tested (on Windows 7) with
LibreOfficeDev 4.4.0.0.alpha0+ (2014-05-29),
LibreOfficeDev 4.3.0.0.beta2 (2014-06-05),
LibreOffice 4.2.5 (RC2) (2014-06-13).
Workaround (up to LibreOffice 4.2.4)
As mentioned, you can use Ctrl+Shift+V, and then select "HTML format without comments".
You can record these steps as a macro, and assign it to a shortcut key.
The following macro, assigned to "Ctrl+Shift+W", works fine for me:
sub paste_html_no_comments
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
rem define variables
dim document as object
dim dispatcher as object
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
rem get access to the document
document = ThisComponent.CurrentController.Frame
dispatcher = createUnoService("com.sun.star.frame.DispatchHelper")
rem ----------------------------------------------------------------------
dim args1(0) as new com.sun.star.beans.PropertyValue
args1(0).Name = "SelectedFormat"
args1(0).Value = 123
dispatcher.executeDispatch(document, ".uno:ClipboardFormatItems", "", 0, args1())
end sub
A very big thank you to all three of you that have responded at the time of writing this comment - you have helped solve my problem.
I wasn't aware of the "Paste Special" option and that choosing "HTML format without comments" does exactly what I wanted!
P.S. Thanks for the shortcut manj_k. Also I was using Firefox.