Word XP

Why display non-printing characters?

Non-printing characters are automatically inserted into your document as you type. You will not see these characters unless you choose to show the formatting marks. So why display these characters? Showing the document formatting can assist you when editing. Non-printing characters such as spaces, tabs, and hard returns (created when you press the Enter key), will now be visually displayed on your page.

For example:

A document that was created with numerous tabs could be quite difficult to edit if you needed to delete all the tabs. However, if you display your non-printing characters, you will be able to quickly see where all the tabs exist. The tab symbol will appear as an arrow pointing to the right,. Place the insertion point to the right of the tab symbol and press the Backspace key to quickly delete these tabs.