Dots between every word, a ¶ symbol at the end of each line and little arrows where you pressed Tab: those are formatting marks. They never print, but they make a page hard to read. To hide them in Word for Windows, go to Home > Paragraph and click Show/Hide ¶, or press Ctrl+Shift+8. If some marks stay, a setting in File > Options > Display is keeping them on, and you can switch it off there.
Turn formatting marks off in Word for Windows
These steps are for Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows. Word 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024 use the same button and the same Options page, and Word 2013 did too.
- Click the Home tab on the ribbon.
- In the Paragraph group, find Show/Hide ¶. It’s the button with the ¶ (pilcrow) symbol, usually at the top right of the group.
- If the button looks pressed or shaded, marks are showing. Click it once to hide them.
- Check the page. The dots, arrows and ¶ symbols should be gone, and the text looks the way it will print.
The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+8. Microsoft’s Word keyboard shortcuts list describes it as “Display all nonprinting characters” and notes that you shouldn’t use the 8 on the numeric keypad; use the 8 in the row of number keys above the letters. Pressing it again switches the marks back off, the same way clicking the button does.
Showing or hiding marks is only a view setting. Turning it off doesn’t change your text, spacing or layout.
Marks that stay on: the Word Options setting
A common complaint is that Show/Hide is off, yet paragraph marks or space dots are still on the screen. That happens when Word has been told to always show certain marks, whatever the button says. Microsoft’s Word Options (Display) page lists the settings involved.
- Click File, then Options at the bottom of the left pane. (If you don’t see Options, click More first.)
- Click Display.
- Find the section titled Always show these formatting marks on the screen.
- Clear every box you don’t want to see. The list includes Tab characters, Spaces, Paragraph marks, Hidden text, Optional hyphens and Object anchors. Optional breaks appears only when an East Asian language is enabled.
- Also check Show all formatting marks, which sits below that list. It is the same setting as the Show/Hide ¶ button: when it’s selected, Word shows every mark whether or not its own box is checked, so clear it too.
- Click OK.
You can also use these boxes the other way around. If you like to see paragraph marks while you write but find the space dots distracting, leave Paragraph marks selected and keep the Show/Hide button off. You’ll see ¶ at the end of each paragraph and nothing else.
The Hidden text box deserves a note. It controls whether text formatted as hidden appears on screen (with a dotted underline). Clearing it makes hidden text disappear from view again; it doesn’t delete it. To hide, reveal, print or remove hidden text on purpose, see how to hide text in Word.
Word for Mac and Word for the web
Word for Mac
Microsoft documents the settings route on its show or hide formatting marks page:
- In the menu bar, click Word > Preferences. On newer versions of macOS the menu item may read Settings instead.
- Click View.
- Under Show Non-Printing Characters, clear the box for each mark you want to hide.
Word for Mac may also show a ¶ button on the Home tab that toggles all marks at once, but Microsoft documents only the Preferences route above, so use that if you don’t see the button.
Word for the web
Microsoft’s comparison of Word for the web and the desktop app, and its list of Word for the web shortcuts, don’t mention a formatting-marks control or a shortcut for it. If your Home tab shows a ¶ button (it may sit under More options when the window is narrow), try it; if it isn’t there, and a stray mark or break is causing trouble, open the file in the desktop Word app and use the steps above.
What each formatting mark means
Before you hide the marks, it can be worth a quick look at what they’re telling you. Microsoft’s Display options page confirms the first five meanings; the rest are how current versions of Word typically show them.
| Mark | What it stands for | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| ¶ | End of a paragraph (where Enter was pressed) | Two ¶ in a row means an empty paragraph used as spacing |
| · (raised dot) | A space | Two or more dots between words are extra spaces |
| → (arrow) | A tab character | Several arrows in a row usually mean tabs used for alignment |
| Dotted underline | Text formatted as hidden | Visible only while marks or hidden text are shown |
| Anchor symbol | An object, such as a picture or text box, attached to a paragraph | Moving that paragraph moves the object too |
| ↵ (bent arrow) | A manual line break (Shift+Enter) | Starts a new line without starting a new paragraph |
| ° (small circle) | A nonbreaking space | Keeps two words together on one line |
| Dotted line labeled Page Break or Section Break | A manual page break or a section break | Delete it to remove the break |
| Small black square beside a paragraph | A pagination option, such as Keep with next, Keep lines together or Page break before | Explains text that jumps to the next page |
When it helps to show the marks first
Hiding marks is the right choice for reading and reviewing. For layout problems, turning them on for a minute often finds the cause faster than guessing:
- Uneven gaps between words: look for double dots, then remove extra spaces between words.
- Big vertical gaps: a stack of empty ¶ marks is the usual culprit; see how to delete blank lines in Word.
- Lines that end early: a bent arrow means a manual line break. Here is how to remove line breaks in Word and keep your paragraphs.
- A blank page or a layout change midway through: look for a Page Break or Section Break line, then delete the section break.
- Text that won’t line up: mixed tabs and spaces show up clearly with marks on. Then follow the steps to fix alignment in Word.
A typical case: a team member sends a two-page memo that prints with a mostly blank first page. With Show/Hide on, a small black square appears beside the heading on page two, showing a pagination option is set. The Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box shows Page break before is checked; clearing it fixes the layout, and you can then hide the marks again.
Formatting marks: more answers
Do formatting marks print?
No. They appear only on screen, whether you show them with the button or through Word Options. Hidden text also stays off the printout unless printing hidden text is turned on.
Why did the marks turn on by themselves?
The most likely cause is pressing Ctrl+Shift+8 by accident. Press it again or click Show/Hide ¶. If that doesn’t help, check the boxes in File > Options > Display.
Can I hide the paragraph mark after a table?
Not delete it: Word always keeps a paragraph after a table. With Show/Hide off and Paragraph marks cleared in Word Options, it’s still there but invisible.
Will hiding the marks remove formatting from my text?
No. Hiding marks only changes what you see. To actually strip fonts, colors or spacing from a passage, see how to clear formatting from selected text in Word.
Once the marks are off, the page shows what will print, and the same button or Ctrl+Shift+8 brings them back the next time spacing looks wrong.
Kermit Matthews runs Live2Tech from just outside Philadelphia. He is an IT specialist with over 20 years of experience, from a university help desk to small-business IT, IT management and his own consulting practice, and has written tech guides full time since 2020. Steps are checked against the current software on a real device or the maker’s official documentation. More about Kermit.