A friend got in touch recently in a bit of a panic. All sorts of odd marks had appeared in her Word document. It looked something like this:
What were all these funny symbols? Where had they come from and, more importantly, how could she get rid of them?
Showing paragraph marks and other hidden formatting symbols
Word gives you the option to view paragraph marks and other hidden formatting symbols. Basically, this means that you can see where the author of a document has pressed the Return key or Tab or Space, or inserted a forced break or some other formatting. Why is it useful? It means that if you are editing or otherwise tidying up a document, you can see what’s been done in order to resolve it. For example, in this document, I can see that the author has used the Return key to force text to appear on a new page (instead of using Ctrl-Enter to force a page break):
and when I’ve done it properly, I can see the page break marked:
So, how did I get to see these funny marks? In Word for both Mac and PC, you can find a button with the paragraph mark on it which will make them display:
Show Paragraph marks in Word for PC
Go to the Home tab and you’ll find it half way along. Press the button, it will go orange, and your formatting marks will display.
I’ve actually put this button onto my Quick Access Toolbar (find out how to do that) as it’s a very useful button for an editor/proofreader!
Show Paragraph marks in Word for Mac
In Word for Mac, the Show Paragraph marks button is handily already in the top toolbar. Press the button and all your formatting will become visible.
How do I hide the Paragraph marks and other formatting?
If the marks appear and you want to hide them, simply find the Paragraph Marks button and press it again. It should stop being orange, and your formatting marks will no longer be displayed.
Thanks to Linda for the inspiration and Mac screenshot!
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This is part of my series on how to avoid time-consuming “short cuts” and use Word in the right way to maximise your time and improve the look of your documents.
Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Word currently in use – Word 2003, Word 2007 and Word 2010, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Word should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into!
Find all the short cuts here …
LibroEditing proofreading, editing, transcription, localisation 
limebirdwriters
July 10, 2013 at 8:53 am
Great advice! Those paragraph marks get on my nerves though, haha. Don’t think I’ve ever used them! Beth
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Liz at Libro
July 10, 2013 at 8:54 am
Thank you! They’re so helpful for me, so they do serve a purpose!
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limebirdwriters
July 10, 2013 at 8:55 am
Well, that’s good then, I’ll let them off… 😛 hehe
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Louise Harnby | Proofreader
July 17, 2013 at 11:53 am
Another great post for fearful or new Word users, Liz. What particularly struck me is how useful this is for writers (or editors and proofreaders who are formatting for their clients) using Word as the basis for epublishing. As you and I both know from experience, Word’s normal view can hide a multitude of ‘nasties’ that can negatively impact on the output of a Word document that’s been converted to, say, a mobi or an epub file. Knowing how to interpret these ‘funny symbols’ increases the likelihood that the final product will offer a comfortable reading experience that’s easy on the eye and appears professionally produced.
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Liz at Libro
July 17, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Yes, indeed, Louise, that is a good use for it. I don’t do much formatting but find it so, so useful for trying to work out what someone’s done to a document!
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Sparrowgrass
July 17, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I’ve also fielded this query. People do get worried about the “funny symbols” don’t they?! Next time anyone asks me this I can just point them here.
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Liz at Libro
July 17, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Yes, indeed, and glad I can give you something to direct people to!
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SGANS
September 5, 2015 at 6:10 pm
I’ve found the symbol and attempted to turn it off. It does not work!
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Liz Dexter
September 14, 2015 at 5:39 am
That seems very odd, as you just need to press the button with the paragraph mark on in order for it to disappear. What version of Word are you using, and for PC or Mac?
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Geoff
September 25, 2015 at 5:24 pm
Re the para marks at end of lines etc. I have an iMac and I have this in view all the time, how do I remove them or tap a key to turn them off. Most of the remarks here are re Word documents.
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Liz Dexter
September 25, 2015 at 5:31 pm
See this section in the article:
Show Paragraph marks in Word for Mac
In Word for Mac, the Show Paragraph marks button is handily already in the top toolbar. Press the button and all your formatting will become visible.
If you press the button again, the formatting should disappear.
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marla wills
April 10, 2016 at 8:29 pm
the show paragraph marks button is NOT handily already in the top toolbar. I have looked everywhere for it.
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Liz Dexter
April 10, 2016 at 8:35 pm
Which version of Word are you using? I have a screenshot of it in its place and a link to the article saying how to get the button on the QAT. If you’re using a Mac I’m not an expert but there are some notes. If you are using another version, comment and I’ll try to work it out for you.
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marla wills
April 10, 2016 at 8:30 pm
command + 8 worked though!
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Liz Dexter
April 14, 2016 at 9:42 am
Ah, you’re on a Mac, not an expert there. I will add this to the post when I get a moment. Thanks for sharing what worked!
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Danielle Price
February 4, 2017 at 8:14 pm
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! IT WORKED!!
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linwinn
April 28, 2016 at 8:54 am
When I send work from my MAC (word 11) to a PC (WORD 13) it is returned showing §§ instead of Ch. (We are using Arial 11). Please do you know what is happening to cause this? Would I be better off using Times Roman?
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Liz Dexter
April 28, 2016 at 8:56 am
Thank you for your question. I’m afraid compatibility between Mac and PC is outside of my experience and area of knowledge, so I can’t advise on this. I am leaving your question live in the comments in case anyone else has the answer (this does sometimes happen).
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Al
May 18, 2016 at 6:02 pm
Is there a way to “Find & Replace” these paragraph symbols with a comma? I have a large list filled with these that I’d like to change to make a CSV type file.
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Liz Dexter
May 18, 2016 at 6:03 pm
Yes, have a look at my advanced find and replace article – scroll down or search for special characters https://libroediting.com/2014/01/23/find-and-replace-in-word-2007-2010-and-2013-2-advanced-find/
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Al
May 18, 2016 at 6:23 pm
I can copy the backwards ‘P’ but it won’t paste into the Find What:
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Liz Dexter
May 18, 2016 at 6:35 pm
Don’t copy it – use Advanced Find – More – Special – then choose Paragraph Mark from the list.
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Al
May 18, 2016 at 6:36 pm
Never mind, I found that (unlisted) ^p worked, thanks!
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Stany
December 21, 2017 at 11:41 am
Hello. I am editing a doc that was sent to me. When pressing the proofreading tool the following strange characters appear all over the text inside the words ( ¬ ). Any idea how I could get rid of those? Thanks!
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Liz Dexter
December 21, 2017 at 11:43 am
When you say “pressing the proofreading tool” do you mean the button with a tick and ABC (the spell-check button) or do you mean the button in Review – Track Changes that shows the mark-up in the text? You might be best off sending me a screen shot to my email address (see my contact form for the email address) and I’ll have a look and see if I can advise you.
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Stany
December 21, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Hi. Thanks for getting back to me. I mean the one which looks like a capital π..
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Stany
December 21, 2017 at 1:27 pm
I will send you an email shortly.
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Liz Dexter
December 21, 2017 at 2:28 pm
Thank you for sending the screenshot: after you pressed the Show Paragraph button it gave you lots of odd characters in the middle of words. My suggestions are:
A Copy the whole text, paste it into a text-only editor (like Notepad) then copy and paste it back into a new Word document. If your Notepad supports the font, of course.
B If you don’t have a text-only editor that will work is to SAVE A COPY first, then highlight all the text and in Home, Font, press the remove formatting button (an A with an eraser in front of it), which will remove all formatting.
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Al DeF (@bigalrlz)
February 9, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Thanks so much for this, I accidentally turned these on yesterday and it was driving me nuts! Have a great day 🙂
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Liz Dexter
February 9, 2018 at 1:48 pm
Glad to help!
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