Have you found that when you create a new document in Microsoft Word, that the initial blank page has a weird symbol that looks like a backwards “P”? And that as you type and create your document, other weird characters are showing up as well?
Don’t worry, there isn’t actually anything wrong with Word, there’s just a setting that has been previously enabled that persists even after Word has been closed. These symbols are appearing because formatting marks were previously chosen to be shown.
Wondering about text with a line through it? Check out our Microsoft Word strikethrough guide to learn more about it, and how to use it.
How to Stop Showing Formatting Marks in Microsoft Word
The steps in this article were performed in Microsoft Word for Office 365, but will work in most other versions of Microsoft Word as well.
Step 1: Open Microsoft Word.
Step 2: Select the Home tab at the top of the window.
Step 3: Click the Show/Hide button in the Paragraph section of the ribbon to hide the formatting marks.
That backwards “P” symbol should now be gone, as well as any other formatting marks that were appearing in your document.
Now that you know more about the backwards P when you are editing documents in Word, you can toggle this setting on or off based on whether or not you need to see those formatting marks.
Do you work with others on Word documents, and you’re noticing that comments are being printed? Learn how to stop printing these comments by adjusting a setting on the Print menu.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.