How to Show Invisibles & Formatting Marks in Google Docs

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A step-by-step guide to reveal hidden formatting characters and line breaks in Google Docs
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Do you need to see hidden formatting characters in Google Docs? You can easily show line breaks, paragraph markers, carriage returns, and other invisible formatting symbols by selecting "Show non-printing characters" from the View menu. [1] ! This wikiHow article teaches you how to show invisible characters in Google Docs.

Things You Should Know

  • To show invisible characters, click the "View" tab and select "Show non-printing characters."
  • You can also use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + P (PC) or Cmd + Shift + P (Mac).
  • Showing non-printing characters displays hidden paragraph markers, page breaks, section breaks, line breaks, column breaks, tabs, and spaces.

Steps

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  1. Go to https://docs.google.com/document and log in. You can only see invisible characters when using Google Docs in a web browser on your computer. This won't work in the mobile app.
  2. Click the multicolored plus sign to create a new document, or click one you already have to open.
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  3. It's at the top of your document.
  4. Alternatively, press Ctrl + Shift + P (PC) or Cmd + Shift + P (Mac) to instantly show hidden paragraph markers, line breaks, section breaks, column breaks, tabs, and spaces. [2]
    • To hide these characters again, return to View and select Show non-printing characters or press the keyboard shortcut again.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2023/01/%20non-printing-characters-google-docs.html
      2. ↑ https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6367684?hl=en

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