Word formatting problem

[Tom Brown]

We have been using MS Word for years on another computer and we just got a
new machine. So, I loaded Office 2003 and the first time I opened an
existing document, I see formatting symbols that I have never seen before.

Specifically, I see the Paragraph symbol at the end of each paragraph and
the CR (carriage return, enter, whatever you call it ) symbol at the end of
all the other lines.

I am using the Normal view and can't find any way to get rid of those
formatting symbols. If I go to the Reading Layout, it looks normal.

TIA,

Tom

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

See http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/NonPrintChars.htm

 

[Tom Brown]

Suzanne,

Thanks! This is really funny because the first thing I usually do when I
install Word on any computer, is go up and get rid of that funny-looking
Show/Hide Formatting symbol. Why do I do this? Because I didn't know what
it was so I didn't think I needed it. But, in getting rid of it, I must
have pushed it first!

I guess we are always learning something, huh?

Thanks again,

Tom

 

[Charles Kenyon]

And you probably want to turn off permission to open documents in Reading
Layout.

--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide


--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

If you are using Word much, you do need it! Most experienced users find out
that it is those strange looking characters that are responsible for
formatting anomolies.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide




--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

 

[anon k]

Thanks! This is really funny because the first thing I usually do when I
install Word on any computer, is go up and get rid of that funny-looking
Show/Hide Formatting symbol.

It's a paragraph mark. They've been in use for centuries, well before
Word, or even printing presses, came along. If anyone can explain how
it came to get its shape, I'd be interested.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

For the conventional explanation of the name "pilcrow," as well as an
illustration of the derivation of the shape, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcrow

 

[Al Gillis]

Wow, Suzanne... This was a cool reference! It explains a lot of little
thinkgs I've wondered about!

So here's one more mystery symbol that browsing around the WordMVP pages
didn't clear up. Using Word 2002 and 2003 a little blue rectangle (blue on
my screen, anyway) will appear from time to time under some characters -
first character in a word. What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is that
trying to tell me?

Thanks, too, for your excellent help almost every day!

Al

 

[Jay Freedman]

The blue rectangle tells you that the word was replace by an
AutoCorrect entry. Hover the mouse over the rectangle to get an
AutoCorrect Options button, which will let you undo the change, stop
correcting that word if it's typed again, or open the options dialog.

Just for fun, type the word "unusual" into the Help search box and
press Enter. You should get a link to the topic "I see something
unusual in my document". That topic covers almost all the nonprinting
characters, underlines, and other squiggles Word can show. The
AutoCorrect box is listed under "Smart tags and other buttons".

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[anon k]

For the conventional explanation of the name "pilcrow," as well as an
illustration of the derivation of the shape, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcrow

And to think that all those times I saw it in Latin manuscripts, I
didn't recognize it as a Latin word.