How to Use Nonprinting Characters in Word 2003

Word 2003 uses a variety of characters that are not displayed or printed but are vital to the formatting of your document. When you are struggling with mysterious spacing or breaks, shed some light by making nonprinting characters visible.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Word 2003
• Computer

1. Open Word 2003.
2. From the “Tools” menu, select “Options.”
3. Click the “View” tab.
4. Choose which nonprinting characters to display under “Formatting marks.” Select which ones you want to see. Click "OK."
5. View all formatting marks. If you don’t want to permanently change your options, click the “Show/Hide Formatting Marks” button on the standard toolbar. If you don’t see the standard toolbar, click “View," click "Toolbars" and then click "Standard.”
6. Edit formatting marks. Now that you can see the formatting marks, you can delete or insert them.

Tips & Warnings

• Displaying nonprinting characters makes it easier to locate page breaks, indents, spaces and other formatting marks.
• In Word 97, these are called nonprinting characters. In later versions, they are called formatting marks.
• Nonprinting characters and formatting marks will not print even if visible.

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