#Word for mac paragraph marks how to#
#Word for mac paragraph marks full#

Here’s a “horrible example” of a worst-case scenario: a user who, not knowing how to double-space, pressed Enter at the end of every line: ¶įigure 3. By this I mean that you should not be ending lines with paragraph breaks, nor should you be using “empty paragraphs” to create “blank lines” between paragraphs (in most cases this is better accomplished with Space Before or After).¶

Ordinarily you should not see one anywhere else. You should see one at the end of each paragraph (if there is not one, you'll likely find that you have a problem). The paragraph mark or pilcrow (¶) represents a paragraph break. So what do all these marks represent? Paragraph marks Important Note: If you are seeing some formatting marks and clicking the “Show/Hide ¶” button (or pressing the shortcut) does not hide them, then you need to visit the Options dialog to make sure that none of the other boxes are checked. (Note that “Paragraph marks” includes line breaks and text-wrapping breaks, discussed below.) Usually this is none, but there might be times when, for example, you would want to see just Hidden text or just paragraph marks and none of the others. When it is unchecked, you will still see the nonprinting characters represented by whichever of the other check boxes you have checked. Note that there are six or seven check boxes under “ Formatting marks.” The last one of these is “All” or “Show all formatting marks.” When you toggle the toolbar/Ribbon button on and off (or use the keyboard shortcut), this box is checked and unchecked. Display Options in Word 2010 (similar in Word 20) Word 2010 and above: File | Options | Display.

Word 2007:, Office Button | Word Options | Display. Word 2003 and earlier: On the View tab of Tools | Options.

Whether you use the shortcut key or the button, what you are toggling between is display of all nonprinting characters and whatever specific ones you have chosen to display as an alternative. Word 2007 and above: The “Show/Hide ¶” button is in the Paragraph group on the Home tab, and its “Super ToolTip” provides additional information. If you hover your mouse over it, the ScreenTip says “Show/Hide ¶.” Word 2003 and earlier: By default, the Formatting toolbar has a button with the ¶ icon. The same key combination will also toggle the display off. If you've ever turned on display of nonprinting characters unintentionally, it may have been by accidentally pressing this key combination when you were trying to type an asterisk. The display of nonprinting characters may be toggled in either of two ways: The important thing to know is that they do not print (you will not see them in Print Preview). Even if you prefer to work most of the time without seeing them, you should know how to display them and what they mean. The symbols that Microsoft now calls “formatting marks” were previously referred to as “nonprinting characters.” By either name, they are characters that take up space or have a formatting function but do not appear on the printed page: spaces, tab characters, paragraph breaks, and the like. For experienced users, the usual reaction of such a user seems almost comical because experienced users know how invaluable the display of these symbols can be both in formatting and in troubleshooting documents.

#Word for mac paragraph marks full#

Occasionally a new user of Word is alarmed to discover that his previously pristine document is full of strange symbols-dots, arrows, paragraphs marks, and the like. Hide Paragraph Marks In Microsoft Word For Mac 2020.Most of them store all the formatting information for the paragraph they’re in. Those paragraph marks (their proper name is a pilcrow) play an important role in Word. It’s generally a good idea to display paragraph marks and other formatting symbols when working on Word documents. You can show or hide paragraph marks or symbols and other nonprinting characters (such as tabs, spaces and soft returns) in your Microsoft Word documents using the Ribbon or a keyboard shortcut.