Quick answer: To hide paragraph marks (¶), spaces shown as dots, and other nonprinting formatting symbols in desktop Microsoft Word, go to Home → ¶ (Show/Hide). In Word for Windows, you can also press Ctrl+Shift+8. These marks help troubleshoot document layout, but they normally do not appear in printed documents.
There are two settings to check: the Show/Hide button and the Word options that force particular formatting marks to remain visible. Hiding the marks does not delete paragraph breaks or change the underlying text.
Method 1: Toggle Show/Hide Formatting Marks
Follow these steps in desktop Word:
1. Open the document and select the Home tab.
2. In the Paragraph group, click ¶ to toggle nonprinting marks on or off.
Keyboard shortcut (Windows): Press Ctrl+Shift+8 (often written Ctrl+* on US keyboards). This toggles the Show/Hide setting. On Mac, the commonly used shortcut is Command+8 in desktop Word.
Method 2: Turn Off Formatting Marks Set to Always Display
If paragraph marks stay visible after you turn off Show/Hide, Word may be configured to display them permanently.
1. In Word for Windows, choose File → Options.
2. Open Display. Under Always show these formatting marks on the screen, clear Paragraph marks or any other unwanted marks, then select OK. On Mac, look in Word’s preferences/settings for the View options controlling nonprinting characters.
Tip: If you are troubleshooting a blank page, temporarily turn formatting marks on to identify page breaks, section breaks and empty paragraphs. Turn them off again when finished.
What Do the Formatting Symbols Mean?
- ¶ marks the end of a paragraph.
- Dots between words indicate spaces when formatting marks are visible.
- Right-pointing arrows commonly indicate tab characters.
- Manual line-break symbols show where Shift+Enter was used instead of starting a new paragraph.
Troubleshooting: Paragraph Marks Still Showing
First turn off Home → ¶. If marks remain, check the always-display settings in Word Options. If only one symbol remains, it may be a different formatting indicator, such as a table-cell end marker. Avoid deleting paragraph marks merely to hide them: deleting a paragraph break can merge paragraphs and alter formatting.
Will Paragraph Marks Appear When Printing?
Nonprinting formatting marks are editing aids and ordinarily do not print or appear in an exported PDF. They can be useful when diagnosing extra blank pages, unexpected spacing, or text that jumps to the next page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a paragraph mark remain at the end of a Word table?
Word keeps an end-of-document paragraph after a table. You can hide its formatting mark with Show/Hide, but deleting the required final paragraph is not a reliable way to fix an extra page. Instead, inspect paragraph spacing, font size and page margins.
Does hiding paragraph marks remove page breaks?
No. Show/Hide only changes what editing marks you see. To remove an unwanted manual page break, reveal formatting marks, select the page-break marker and delete it carefully. See our guide to removing page breaks in Word.
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