How to Remove Formatting Marks in Word and What They Mean

To hide formatting marks in Microsoft Word, select Home > ¶ Show/Hide; on Windows, you can also press Ctrl+Shift+8, or on Mac press Command+8. These marks are normally nonprinting guides, so hiding them does not delete text or change the document’s formatting.

What formatting marks show

Formatting marks, sometimes called nonprinting characters, make the structure of a Word document visible while you edit. They can reveal why text wraps or aligns in a particular way, and help you spot extra spaces or paragraph breaks that are hard to notice otherwise. The marks are screen indicators, not usually characters that appear on a printed page or in a PDF.

Common marks include:

Paragraph marks (¶): Show where a paragraph ends. Pressing Enter creates one.
Spaces (·): A dot can appear for each ordinary space, making repeated spaces easy to find.
Tabs (→): An arrow indicates a tab character, which moves text to a tab stop.
Line breaks: A bent arrow can mark a manual line break, often inserted with Shift+Enter.
Page and section breaks: Labeled lines identify breaks that affect pagination or layout.
Other indicators: Word may display anchors for positioned objects, optional hyphens, or markers for hidden text, depending on the document and display settings.

The exact appearance can vary with the Word version and settings. Seeing these symbols does not, by itself, mean the file is damaged or that the symbols will print.

Hide marks with Show/Hide

For most documents, the Show/Hide control is the quickest fix. In Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, open the Home tab and select the ¶ Show/Hide button in the Paragraph group. Select it again to show the marks. The button is a toggle: it changes what Word displays, not the underlying document.

On Windows, the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+8. Use the number 8 on the main keyboard row if the shortcut does not work with your keyboard layout; the key combination may vary on some international layouts. On Mac, press Command+8. You can also use the Show/Hide button on the Home tab if a shortcut is unavailable or conflicts with another setting.

In Word for the web, look for Home > Show/Hide ¶ in the ribbon. The browser version may have fewer display controls than the desktop application, so use the ribbon button if you cannot access the desktop app’s detailed settings. If the marks return when you reopen a file, check whether a display preference is making particular marks visible.

Turn off specific marks in Word settings

If clicking Show/Hide does not hide the symbols you care about, a setting may be forcing one or more types to remain visible. On Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows, open File > Options > Display. Under Always show these formatting marks on the screen, clear the checkboxes for marks you do not want to see. To hide all the listed types, clear Show all formatting marks as well as any individually selected options, then select OK.

This settings page is useful when, for example, paragraph marks disappear but tab arrows remain. The main Show/Hide button controls the general display, while individual selections in Display can keep chosen marks on screen. If an option’s state is unclear, review the checkboxes rather than repeatedly toggling the ribbon button.

On Mac, Word’s display preferences provide controls for nonprinting characters; the wording and location can vary between releases. Open Word > Settings (or Word > Preferences in some versions) and look in View for nonprinting-character options. You can also use the Home tab’s Show/Hide button to toggle marks quickly. If your version’s settings do not match these labels, use Word’s Help search for “nonprinting characters.”

Hiding marks is not the same as deleting formatting

The phrase “remove formatting marks” can mean two different things: hiding the visible guides, or removing formatting that changes how text looks. Show/Hide handles the first meaning. It does not remove bold, spacing, tabs, paragraph breaks, or other content. If the document looks wrong even after the marks are hidden, the issue may be actual formatting rather than the display of marks.

For example, a row of dots between words may simply represent spaces. Hiding the dots leaves the spaces in place. A paragraph mark at the end of a heading is a structural marker; hiding it does not remove the paragraph or turn the heading into plain text. Likewise, a section break may be visible as a labeled line, but switching off formatting marks does not remove the break or its effects on margins, headers, or page numbering.

This distinction matters before making changes. Hiding marks is reversible and low risk. Deleting a character or break can alter the document’s layout, and clearing formatting can change fonts, spacing, or styles. Save a copy before editing a complicated document if you are unsure which type of change is needed.

When you really need to change formatting

If selected text has unwanted direct formatting, select it and use Home > Clear All Formatting. This removes many direct character-formatting choices, such as manually applied font styling, and returns the selection toward its default or style-based appearance. Review the result, because it may not preserve the exact look you want. Applying a named style such as Normal or a heading style is often a better way to make text consistent across a document.

On Windows, Ctrl+Space clears direct character formatting from selected text, while Ctrl+Q resets direct paragraph formatting to the paragraph style’s settings. These actions do different jobs: the first concerns character-level choices such as font formatting; the second concerns paragraph-level choices such as indents and spacing. Mac shortcuts can differ and may be intercepted by macOS, so use the relevant Home-tab controls or Word Help if a shortcut does not behave as expected.

Do not delete paragraph marks simply to make the ¶ symbols disappear. A paragraph mark can carry the paragraph’s formatting, including alignment and spacing. Deleting it may join two paragraphs and transfer formatting from one to the other. First hide the marks; only edit or remove a break when you intend to change the document’s structure.

Use visible marks to troubleshoot layout

Although the symbols can make a page look busy, they are valuable when diagnosing formatting problems. A document with inconsistent spacing may contain several spaces where a tab or paragraph setting would be more predictable. Show the marks, inspect the affected lines, and then make a deliberate correction rather than deleting every visible symbol.

Unexpected gaps: Dots can reveal repeated spaces. Replace them with one space where appropriate, or use paragraph and tab settings for alignment.
Text starts too far across: A visible tab arrow can identify a tab character. Check the ruler and tab stops before changing it, especially in forms or tables.
A heading moves to another page: Look for paragraph marks and page or section breaks. A manual break may be intentional, so check before deleting it.
Lines wrap oddly: A manual line break may be forcing a new line within a paragraph. Removing it can change wrapping, so confirm that the break is unnecessary.

When you finish troubleshooting, turn Show/Hide off to return to a less cluttered editing view. The document’s text and layout remain as you left them.

Why marks may still be visible

If the symbols remain after you press the shortcut, confirm that you are in Word and that the cursor is in the document rather than a dialog or another application. Try the Home-tab button directly. On Windows, inspect File > Options > Display for individually enabled marks or the setting to show all formatting marks. A keyboard layout or a system shortcut can also prevent the key combination from reaching Word.

Also check whether what you see is actually a formatting mark. Comments, tracked changes, table gridlines, field shading, and selection highlights have separate display controls. For instance, table gridlines help show cell boundaries while editing; they are not the same as paragraph marks. Turning off Show/Hide will not necessarily hide these other interface elements.

If the marks show on screen but not in print preview or a printed page, that is generally expected: ordinary nonprinting marks are editing aids. If symbols do appear in a printed result, verify whether they are actual typed characters, hidden text configured to print, or another element. Review print settings and inspect a PDF preview before distributing the file.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I remove the paragraph symbol in Word?
Press Ctrl+Shift+8 on Windows or Command+8 on Mac, or select Home > ¶ Show/Hide. This hides paragraph symbols; it does not delete paragraph breaks.

Why are dots appearing between words in Word?
With formatting marks visible, Word uses dots to represent spaces. Toggle Show/Hide off to hide them. The spaces remain in the document.

Will formatting marks print?
Ordinary nonprinting marks are for editing and normally do not print. Check Print Preview if you are concerned; actual typed symbols and some special content are different from display-only marks.

How do I remove formatting but keep the words?
Select the text and use Home > Clear All Formatting, then apply the style you want. This changes appearance, unlike Show/Hide, so check the selection afterward.

Why does the paragraph symbol keep coming back?
A display preference may be set to always show paragraph marks or all formatting marks. On Windows, review File > Options > Display; on Mac, check Word’s View settings for nonprinting characters.

Choose the right fix

For a cleaner screen, toggle Show/Hide off. For marks that remain visible, review Word’s nonprinting-character preferences. For text that is genuinely styled incorrectly, clear or reapply formatting carefully. Keeping these actions separate prevents a common mistake: deleting useful paragraph or section breaks when the only problem was that Word was showing its editing guides.

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