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How to Show the Formatting Marks in the Document and Then Hide Them Again

Have you lot always wondered how to go rid of paragraph symbols in Word?

Perhaps your client, boss or colleague asked you lot for help or maybe the paragraph symbols just randomly showed up as pictured below.

Paragraph symbols in Word

Either mode, these are not manaully typed paragraph symbols that you take to get rid of in Word. Instead, they are formatting marks that you lot tin turn on or off to assistance you format your Give-and-take documents properly.

You can become rid of these formatting marks past using either the Show/Hide ¶ command or turning them off in the Display tab of the Word Options dialog box.

As paragraph marks can be distracting, they take a time and place when formatting your Give-and-take documents.That'due south why knowing how to rapidly plow them on and off (using the two different techniques below) is useful for making you a savvier Give-and-take user.

NOTE: I'm using the Microsoft 365 subscription, the latest (and almost ofttimes updated) version of the Microsoft Office suite. To acquire more about it, cheque information technology out here.

i. Plow Off Paragraph Symbol Control

The show hide paragraph symbol command in the Microsoft Word ribbon

On the Home tab of your Ribbon, click theBear witness/Hibernate ¶ command (which but looks like a paragraph symbol) to plough your paragraph marks on or off in your document.

It is important to notation that on top of showing your paragraph symbols, theEvidence/Hide ¶command as well shows you lot the other hidden formatting symbols in your Give-and-take certificate. This includes your tab spaces, page breaks, space bar returns, etc. as yous tin can run into in the movie below.

Displaying hidden formatting spaces in Microsoft Word

Revealing these hidden formatting symbols enables you lot to format your Word documents better,  particularly when working with page breaks or trying to hunt down a blank page in your document that yous want to delete.

If you use theShow/Hide ¶command and your paragraph symbols DO Non disappear, that means you need to unselect them using the tertiary technique in this article (unselecting the paragraph symbols using the Word Options dialog box).

To expand your knowledge of Microsoft Give-and-take and acquire how to hide and remove comments besides, read our guide hither.

NOTE: Turning theShow/Hide ¶ command on or off saves as a Word setting to your re-create of Microsoft Word on your computer. That means that if you turn your paragraph symbols off, you will not encounter them again (in any new Word documents you open on your estimator) until you lot turn them dorsum on again.

The merely exception to this rule is if you lot accept turned your paragraph symbols on using the Word Options dialog box (the third technique in this article).

2. Turn Off Paragraph Symbol Shortcut

If you lot are into speed and efficiency when working in Word (which you should be), and so I recommend learning the Ctrl + * keyboard shortcut.

This shortcut is disruptive at get-go, because to make it work you have to hitting Ctrl + Shift + 8, which is the equivalent of hitting Ctrl + * equivalent.

The show hide paragraph symbol shortcut is control plus shift plus 8

NOTE: If you hover over the Show/Hide ¶ command in your Ribbon, the pop-upwards box tells you the shortcut is Ctrl + *. Call back that to brand this work, the keys you need to hit are Ctrl + Shift + eight.

At first, information technology appears that Microsoft labeled the paragraph symbol shortcut incorrectly until you remember that Shift + 8 is the same every bit hitting the * key on your keyboard.

This shortcut allows y'all to quickly turn on or off not merely your paragraph symbols but also all the other hidden formatting symbols in your document on the fly. That is why information technology is my preferred method for revealing formatting symbols in Word.

Simply hit Ctrl + Shift + 8 when yous want to come across the formatting symbols, and and so hit Ctrl + Shift + 8 to make them disappear. In this way, yous can bring up the formatting symbols when you need them to properly format your document, and then hibernate them again so you tin focus on your certificate.

Once you familiarize yourself with this shortcut, I remember yous volition use it all the time when working in Microsoft Word (I sure do).

3. Unselect the Paragraph Symbol in Give-and-take

Using the paragraph symbol in the Word Options dialog box to get rid of paragraph spacings

If using the Show/Hide ¶ command did non work for y'all, then you will need to unselect the paragraph symbol in the Word Options dialog box to get rid of your paragraph symbols.

  1. Click the File tab
  2. Click Options at the lesser of the File tab
  3. Select the Display tab
  4. Unselect the Paragraph Symbol

If yous have the paragraph symbol selected in this dialog box, it means that they volition display in all of your Word documents. In other words, with the Paragraph Symbol selected in the Give-and-take Options dialog box, theTestify/Hibernate ¶command will not piece of work for you for getting rid of these formatting symbols.

In the same way, y'all can choose to testify other hidden symbols in your Word documents.

Because the Ctrl + Shift + 8 shortcut is and then easy to learn and utilize, I don't recommend turning on your paragraph symbols or other subconscious symbols using the Display tab in the Give-and-take Options dialog box.

That said, this is how you tin become rid of any paragraph markers and other hidden formatting symbols that are showing upwards within your document when they are not supposed to.

To expand your knowledge of Microsoft Discussion and learn how to properly brand a table of contents in Word, read our guide hither.

NOTE: Equally pictured above, selecting the Prove All Formatting Marks pick at the lesser of theGive-and-take Options dialog box is the aforementioned every bit using theEvidence/Hide ¶ command in your Ribbon.Toggling this command on or off is the same as selecting or unselecting this option in the Word Options  dialog box.

That's why learning the Ctrl + Shift + 8 keyboard shortcut is so useful, as you can use it to quickly turn your paragraph markers on and off.

Final Thoughts on Paragraph Marks in Word

So those are the two different ways to get rid of paragraph symbols in Word.

While you lot can use the Ribbon to toggle them on and off, I recommend learning the Ctrl + Shift + eight keyboard shortcut for two reasons.

Reason #1. The more shortcuts similar this you know, the faster and more effective you volition exist in Microsoft Discussion. Menstruum.

Reason #two. Being able to see your paragraph symbols (and other hidden fomratting symbols) makes formatting and trouble shooting your Word documents easier. And then if yous are not currently using the Bear witness/Hide ¶  command to format your documents, now is the time to starting time using it.

If y'all establish this article helpful, permit united states of america know in the comment section beneath.

If you learned something new and want to check out our other training courses and helpful resources, visit our home page here.

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Source: https://nutsandboltsspeedtraining.com/how-to-get-rid-of-paragraph-symbol-in-word/