The Invisible Formatting Marks
When you are formatting a complex document in Google Docs, you might occasionally enable a feature called “Show non-printing characters.” When this is turned on, Google Docs reveals the hidden scaffolding of your document. You will see light blue pilcrow symbols (ΒΆ) at the end of every paragraph, tiny dots between words representing spaces, and arrows indicating tab stops or page breaks.
While these symbols are incredibly useful for troubleshooting weird alignment issues or figuring out why a page break is occurring in the wrong spot, they make the document look messy and chaotic during normal writing. They are called “non-printing” because they won’t appear on paper or in a PDF export, but they clutter your screen significantly. Once you have fixed your formatting issue, you will likely want to hide these symbols again.
How to Hide Non-Printing Characters
You can toggle these formatting marks on and off directly from the View menu.
- Open your document in Google Docs.
- Click on the View tab in the top menu bar.
- Look near the bottom of the dropdown list for the option labelled Show non-printing characters.
- If there is a checkmark next to it, the blue symbols are currently visible on your screen.
- Click on “Show non-printing characters” to uncheck the option.
The blue pilcrows, space dots, and tab arrows will instantly vanish from your screen, returning your document to a clean, readable state that accurately represents what the final printed version will look like.