Paragraph Mark won't go away!

[Kevin Mock]

I cannot get rid of the paragraph mark in my word documents. I have
tried the show/hide command to remove the paragraph mark (which is now
all over every word document). This is simply annoying and nothing
else.

 

[matt neuburg]

I cannot get rid of the paragraph mark in my word documents. I have
tried the show/hide command to remove the paragraph mark (which is now
all over every word document). This is simply annoying and nothing
else.

I don't know what you mean by "the show/hide command". This is a
preference, and you can set it in the View preference pane.

However, I strongly recommend that you change your tastes. The paragraph
mark in Word is crucial (it contains the styling information for the
paragraph, for example), so you can't edit effectively if you can't see
it. m.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Kevin,

Out of curiosity, is it just the paragraph mark that won't go away or is it
all hidden formatting marks? And just to confirm what you said, clicking on
Show/Hide formatting (the ¶ symbol) doesn't work?

If that's the case then I suggest testing your Normal template. The
procedure is here:

<http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/MacWordNormal.htm>

Since you didn't give us your OS and Office/Word version numbers (please
always do so when posting!), I can't give you the location of Normal for
your version of Word. If you're in Word X or 2004, you'll find this
information at the following URL. If you're in an earlier version, look
around at the site I'm pointing you to and you'll find it.

<http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/BackUpPrefs.htm>

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

I don't know what you mean by "the show/hide command". This is a
preference, and you can set it in the View preference pane.

It's also available, as a Show/Hide ¶ toggle button, on the Standard
Toolbar. (You may have customized your toolbar to remove it, or it may be
off in "More Buttons" at the end. Or, just possibly, I may have customized
_my_ toolbar to include it, but I don't remember doing so.) And, if I
remember correctly, it used to be also in the Formatting Palette of Word X -
Document section, I think. It's no longer there in Word 2004, but is still
in my Standard Toolbar. It functions as a toggle to turn on and off not just
paragraph marks but also all the hidden formatting characters such as the
tiny dots between every word.

However, I strongly recommend that you change your tastes. The paragraph
mark in Word is crucial (it contains the styling information for the
paragraph, for example), so you can't edit effectively if you can't see
it. m.

That may be good editing advice. But still the command ought to work
properly to allow you to view the finished view. If it's not working
properly, I'd guess that the usual troubleshooting advice of renaming the
Normal template (in Word 2004, that's in your ~/Documents/Microsoft User
Data folder; in earlier Word versions it's in /Applications/Microsoft Office
X (or 2001. etc.)/Templates/My Templates) to allow a fresh Normal template
to be created on next launch will probably fix it. Or you may need to
remove the Word prefs file: in Word 11 that's
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist ; in Word X,
it's ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Word Settings (10).


--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[Clive Huggan]

It's also available, as a Show/Hide ¶ toggle button, on the Standard
Toolbar. (You may have customized your toolbar to remove it, or it may be
off in "More Buttons" at the end. Or, just possibly, I may have customized
_my_ toolbar to include it, but I don't remember doing so.) And, if I
remember correctly, it used to be also in the Formatting Palette of Word X -
Document section, I think. It's no longer there in Word 2004, but is still
in my Standard Toolbar. It functions as a toggle to turn on and off not just
paragraph marks but also all the hidden formatting characters such as the
tiny dots between every word.

That may be good editing advice. But still the command ought to work
properly to allow you to view the finished view. If it's not working
properly, I'd guess that the usual troubleshooting advice of renaming the
Normal template (in Word 2004, that's in your ~/Documents/Microsoft User
Data folder; in earlier Word versions it's in /Applications/Microsoft Office
X (or 2001. etc.)/Templates/My Templates) to allow a fresh Normal template
to be created on next launch will probably fix it. Or you may need to
remove the Word prefs file: in Word 11 that's
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist ; in Word X,
it's ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Word Settings (10).

For when you fix the other aspect: Command-8 is the keyboard equivalent of
the Show/Hide ("¶") button. I use the keystroke quite a lot to make the
non-printing characters show briefly, but I can't STAND non-printing
characters when I'm reading text [so *there*, matt neuberg!!] -- but,
consistent with what Matt says, it's essential for clarifying formatting,
especially other people's.

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe,
so my follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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