How To Hide Paragraph Marks In Word

Hiding Paragraph Marks and other Nonprinting Symbols in Microsoft Word

Paragraph marks, symbols, and other nonprinting characters (such as tabs, spaces, and soft returns) can all be displayed or hidden in your Microsoft Word documents by using the Ribbon or a keyboard shortcut. The use of paragraph marks and other formatting symbols when working with Word documents is generally a wise decision. Formatting symbols are only visible on the computer screen; they do not appear on printed documents.

The term "paragraph" in Microsoft Word refers to anything that contains a hard return (you have pressed Enter or Return).

In most cases, the following formatting symbols are displayed when you enable formatting symbols:

• Paragraph- ¶
• Space (dot) –
• Tab – →

In the following sample Word document, the Show/Hide feature is enabled:

Paragraph marks and other nonprinting symbols can be hidden by using the Ribbon

In Word, you can use the Ribbon to show or hide paragraph marks and other nonprinting symbols by following these steps:

1. Select the Home tab from the Ribbon.

2. In the Paragraph group, select ¶ (Show/Hide ¶) from the drop-down menu.

The following is an example of the Paragraph group on the Ribbon:

Hiding paragraph marks and other nonprinting symbols, a keyboard shortcut must be used

When working in Word, you can use the Ctrl + Shift + 8 keyboard shortcut to show or hide paragraph marks and other nonprinting symbols. (This is indicated by the asterisk key at the top of the keyboard.)

Whenever you use formatting symbols in your document, Word automatically inserts manual page breaks and section breaks into the document.