Disable automatic formatting? Type in plain text by default?

Is there a way to disable the auto-formatting that happens in Mail and Docs? E.g., I want to be able to type a word encapsulated by asterisks without it changing to italics. I'd like to be able to type directly into the interface without having to draft in another app (like Notepad) and then copy-paste.

There were some threads about this in years past, but I wanted to see if this was a feature that has been implemented in 2025. I appreciate how text editors have become more helpful by auto-formatting things, but sometimes you don't want that. Am I missing a setting somewhere?