How can I remove these little things from my microsoft word document?

[Bader7q]

Hello everybody,

one day i tried to add a table of contents to a word document but some little dots and things keep appearing in all my documents afterward.

please take a look at them here

they are really annoying!!

is there any way to get rid of them ??

 

[Hasit]

Yes. They are characters that signify carriage returns and spaces.

Look for the a symbol that looks like the carriage return symbol button you have circled at the top of your screen. If you click on it, it will toggle the characters on and off. You obviously have them on, so click on the symbol again and it will turn them off.

 

[Bader7q]

thank u very much

 

[fumei]

You may find them annoying, but if I may say so, a lot of professional Word users actually keep Show/Hide on. I do. Being able to see those marks is very handy for finding:

1. extra spaces between words (there will be two of those dots between the words).

2. where, EXACTLY, the paragraph marks are. Those are the "pilcrows", the symbols you have between your text paragraphs.

Paragraph marks are very important in Word, and knowing exactly where they are can be crucial. Especially if Styles are being used, and Styles are the core of using Word fully and properly.

You are likely not using Styles, as you have those "spacing" paragraphs between paragraphs. The ones put in with those "extra" Enter keys, to make space. If you use Styles there is no need to use any spacing paragraphs.

Also, when selecting text, knowing if you are including the paragraph mark (or not) can make a real difference.

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[fumei]

If I may add further....

Look at the two pilcrows (paragraph marks) before and after the paragraph "Defining the codes of conduct".

Notice that they are different? This is because the paragraph after has the attributes of the preceding paragraph (Bold), and the paragraph before does not.

This is also helpful when you are inserting text, as you may wonder why text is formatted in a particular way.

Again, though, if you were using Styles, those paragraphs would not be needed in the first place.

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[SkipVought]

Just to add my 2¢...

I can remember a decade and a half ago, when my company switched from Word Perfect to MS Word, feeling lost in my Word document, because Word Perfect has a window that diaplayed document control symbols.

Then I discovered the Show/Hide ¶ tool, and by fears were allayed.

Bottom line: This is a great help for generating a sound document. If you do find it annoying and turn it off, get in the practice of turing it ON periodically to CHECK THINGS OUT.

Skip,

_[red][/red]

 

[tf1]

Guys, the word is pilcro without the w.

For a full low down on non-printing characters, see

http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/NonPrintChars.htm

Regards: tf1

 

[Lilliabeth]

Guys, the word is pilcro without the w.

Hmmm, I always thought it was pilcrow, so I looked it up.

Dictionary.com:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
pil·crow
–noun a paragraph mark.
-----
pilcro
No results found for pilcro.

And it seems to be pilcrow according to the source of the link you provided:
"The paragraph mark or pilcrow (¶) represents a paragraph break."

Lilliabeth
-Why use a big word when a diminutive one will do?-

 

[fumei]

Both are used.

From a Google search for pilcrow:

pilcrow: Definition and Much More from Answers.compilcrow ( ) The symbol (¶). [Alteration of Middle English pilcraft , pilcrow, paragraph, alteration (perhaps influenced by Middle English craft ,

http://www.answers.com/topic/pilcrow

- 47k - Cached - Similar pages


From a Google search for pilcro:

MS OfficeThe second issue is due to a pilcro in the header, which may be present in some ... You try to delete the pilcro, but it seems to be indestructible. Not so! ...
msoffice.blogspot.com/ - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

At first I thought it was a European/American thing, but Sun Microsystems uses "pilcro" in an article on composing Key Sequences. On the other hand, a search within Microsoft will find nothing for pilcro, but does find pilcrow.

I think either can be used. It most certainly can NOT be stated that it is pilcro...without the "w".

tf1? The link you provided? It uses pilcrow, WITH a "w".

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture

 

[tf1]

I hold my hand up to admit I am incorrect. I just hadn't realised that it was commonly spelt with the 'w', especially in N. America.

Further checking would seem to indicate that either spelling is in common use all over the English-speaking world. I don't seem to be able to find its origin either. I guess it is relatively modern because I don't think they would have needed it back in the days of hammer and chisel.

Terry

Regards: tf1

 

[fumei]

Thanks for the laugh tf. No...I don't think they would have needed it with hammer and chisel. In fact of course, early medieval manuscripts did not have paragraphs. Or much punctuation for that matter.

That is why the pilcrow (ahem) was used, to say to the reader...here is a big sort of pause, a - gee, what should we call it, hmmmm, hows about "paragraph". Actually, it was not a pause. It indicated a change in speaker, a shift in discourse and the mark was placed in the margin.

paragraphein "write by the side," from para- "beside" + graphein "to write."

Gerry
My paintings and sculpture