diff --git a/web/src/copy_and_paste.js b/web/src/copy_and_paste.js
index 37d0965abd..ce186a5369 100644
--- a/web/src/copy_and_paste.js
+++ b/web/src/copy_and_paste.js
@@ -322,6 +322,16 @@ function within_single_element(html_fragment) {
     );
 }
 
+export function is_white_space_pre(paste_html) {
+    const html_fragment = new DOMParser()
+        .parseFromString(paste_html, "text/html")
+        .querySelector("body");
+    return (
+        within_single_element(html_fragment) &&
+        html_fragment.firstElementChild.style.whiteSpace === "pre"
+    );
+}
+
 export function paste_handler_converter(paste_html) {
     const copied_html_fragment = new DOMParser()
         .parseFromString(paste_html, "text/html")
@@ -563,7 +573,7 @@ export function paste_handler(event) {
     if (clipboardData.getData) {
         const $textarea = $(event.currentTarget);
         const paste_text = clipboardData.getData("text");
-        const paste_html = clipboardData.getData("text/html");
+        let paste_html = clipboardData.getData("text/html");
         // Trim the paste_text to accommodate sloppy copying
         const trimmed_paste_text = paste_text.trim();
 
@@ -589,6 +599,12 @@ export function paste_handler(event) {
         ) {
             event.preventDefault();
             event.stopPropagation();
+            if (is_white_space_pre(paste_html)) {
+                // Copied content styled with `white-space: pre` is pasted as is
+                // but formatted as code. We need this for content copied from
+                // VS Code like sources.
+                paste_html = "<pre><code>" + paste_text + "</code></pre>";
+            }
             const text = paste_handler_converter(paste_html);
             compose_ui.insert_and_scroll_into_view(text, $textarea);
         }
diff --git a/web/tests/copy_and_paste.test.js b/web/tests/copy_and_paste.test.js
index 1e2185b308..340778adeb 100644
--- a/web/tests/copy_and_paste.test.js
+++ b/web/tests/copy_and_paste.test.js
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@ const {page_params} = require("./lib/zpage_params");
 
 const copy_and_paste = zrequire("copy_and_paste");
 
+run_test("is_white_space_pre", () => {
+    // Copied HTML from VS Code
+    let paste_html = `<div style="color: #cccccc;background-color: #1f1f1f;font-family: 'Droid Sans Mono', 'monospace', monospace;font-weight: normal;font-size: 14px;line-height: 19px;white-space: pre;"><div><span style="color: #cccccc;">    </span><span style="color: #c586c0;">if</span><span style="color: #cccccc;"> (</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">message_lists</span><span style="color: #cccccc;">.</span><span style="color: #9cdcfe;">current</span><span style="color: #cccccc;"> </span><span style="color: #d4d4d4;">===</span><span style="color: #cccccc;"> </span><span style="color: #569cd6;">undefined</span><span style="color: #cccccc;">) {</span></div><div><span style="color: #cccccc;">        </span><span style="color: #c586c0;">return</span><span style="color: #cccccc;">;</span></div><div><span style="color: #cccccc;">    }</span></div></div>`;
+    assert.ok(copy_and_paste.is_white_space_pre(paste_html));
+
+    // Negative test case
+    paste_html = "<div><div>Hello</div><div>World!</div></div>";
+    assert.ok(!copy_and_paste.is_white_space_pre(paste_html));
+});
+
 run_test("paste_handler_converter", () => {
     page_params.development_environment = true;
 
@@ -118,14 +128,6 @@ run_test("paste_handler_converter", () => {
         '<div class="ace-line gutter-author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90za3z66zs0z65zz65zq8z75zlaz81zcz66zj6g2mz78zz76zmz66z22z75zfcz69zz66z ace-ltr focused-line" dir="auto" id="editor-3-ace-line-41"><span>Test list:</span></div><div class="ace-line gutter-author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90za3z66zs0z65zz65zq8z75zlaz81zcz66zj6g2mz78zz76zmz66z22z75zfcz69zz66z line-list-type-bullet ace-ltr" dir="auto" id="editor-3-ace-line-42"><ul class="listtype-bullet listindent1 list-bullet1"><li><span class="ace-line-pocket-zws" data-faketext="" data-contentcollector-ignore-space-at="end"></span><span class="ace-line-pocket" data-faketext="" contenteditable="false"></span><span class="ace-line-pocket-zws" data-faketext="" data-contentcollector-ignore-space-at="start"></span><span>Item 1</span></li></ul></div><div class="ace-line gutter-author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90za3z66zs0z65zz65zq8z75zlaz81zcz66zj6g2mz78zz76zmz66z22z75zfcz69zz66z line-list-type-bullet ace-ltr" dir="auto" id="editor-3-ace-line-43"><ul class="listtype-bullet listindent1 list-bullet1"><li><span class="ace-line-pocket-zws" data-faketext="" data-contentcollector-ignore-space-at="end"></span><span class="ace-line-pocket" data-faketext="" contenteditable="false"></span><span class="ace-line-pocket-zws" data-faketext="" data-contentcollector-ignore-space-at="start"></span><span>Item 2</span></li></ul></div>';
     assert.equal(copy_and_paste.paste_handler_converter(input), "Test list:\n* Item 1\n* Item 2");
 
-    // Pasting code from VS Code / Gmail
-    input =
-        '<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="color: #ffffff;background-color: #002451;font-family: Consolas, &quot;Courier New&quot;, monospace;font-weight: normal;font-size: 14px;line-height: 19px;white-space: pre;"><div><span style="color: #ebbbff;">const</span><span style="color: #ffffff;"> </span><span style="color: #ff9da4;">compose_ui</span><span style="color: #ffffff;"> </span><span style="color: #99ffff;">=</span><span style="color: #ffffff;"> </span><span style="color: #bbdaff;">mock_esm</span><span style="color: #ffffff;">(</span><span style="color: #d1f1a9;">"../src/compose_ui"</span><span style="color: #ffffff;">);</span></div><div><span style="color: #bbdaff;">set_global</span><span style="color: #ffffff;">(</span><span style="color: #d1f1a9;">"document"</span><span style="color: #ffffff;">, </span><span style="color: #ff9da4;">document</span><span style="color: #ffffff;">);</span></div></div>';
-    assert.equal(
-        copy_and_paste.paste_handler_converter(input),
-        'const compose_ui = mock_esm("../src/compose_ui");\n\nset_global("document", document);',
-    );
-
     // Pasting from Google Sheets (remove <style> elements completely)
     input =
         '<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><style type="text/css"><!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--></style><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:normal;text-align:right;" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:123}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:769,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;11&quot;:3,&quot;12&quot;:0}">123</span>';