Why Your Word Document Keeps Adding That Weird “P” Symbol When You Press Enter

You’re typing on an important work document when suddenly, every time you press the Enter key, a strange, backward-facing “P” appears on your screen. However, there is no need to panic: it is not your computer that has a problem. You’ve simply activated your word processor’s hidden formatting marks and now you’re looking face to face with a symbol officially called the raven.

More commonly known as a paragraph symbol, the crow is a typographic character used to mark the start of a new paragraph. But this isn’t just a quirk of modern software; this little symbol has a fascinating history. In fact, its origins date back to the Middle Ages. Before the invention of printing, monks transcribing manuscripts by hand needed a way to separate ideas (they didn’t yet use line breaks). Later, they began to use the letter “C” to mean “capitulum.”

Over time, scribes began adding a vertical line through the “C” to make it stand out more. As handwriting continued to evolve, the crossed “C” slowly evolved into the distinctive double-stemmed loop we recognize today. Now, when you press Enter in a word processor, you don’t just move to the next line; you’re actually writing a snippet of formatting code into the underlying file structure of your document. The Pilcrow is just the software’s way of visually showing you where these invisible commands are buried. Still, they can be distracting if you’re trying to concentrate while using essential productivity apps. Here’s how to get rid of it.

If you’re using Microsoft Word (although there are plenty of reasons why you should stop using it) and you find your screen suddenly littered with those old paragraph markers, fixing it is a breeze. They’re usually activated by accident when a user presses a malicious keyboard combination or clicks the wrong menu button while trying to format their text (hey, it happens to the best of us).

If you’re using Windows, look at the ribbon at the top of your Word document and navigate to the “Home” tab. Next, look for the “Paragraph” section right in the middle of the ribbon and you should see a button that looks exactly like the raven symbol. From there, just click on this button and the symbols will disappear. If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, toggle the symbol on and off by pressing Ctrl+Shift+8 at the same time.

If you’re on a Mac, the process is almost identical. Go to the “Home” tab on your ribbon and look for the raven icon in the formatting options. Click on it to hide the marks. Mac users also have a handy keyboard shortcut: just press Command + 8 at the same time to make the little markers disappear. No matter what operating system you’re using, knowing this quick toggle helps you troubleshoot whenever your document starts to look like a medieval manuscript.

Perhaps surprisingly, Microsoft Word isn’t the only word processor that uses Pilcrow. If you’ve opted for a cloud-based writing app like Google Docs, you might sometimes encounter this same visual clutter. Although Google Docs offers some cool new features and maintains a more minimalist look than Word, it’s still just as easy to trigger the hidden formatting mark. To disable ravens in Google Docs, go to the top menu bar and click “Show.” In the drop-down menu, look for the option labeled “Show nonprinting characters.” If there is a check mark next to it, the crows will be visible on your screen. Simply click this option to uncheck and disable them, and your document will return to its clean, distraction-free state. You can also enable this option via a keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows or Command + Shift + P for Mac.

Pilcrows are also in the Apple pages. Apple’s native word processor also tracks these background paragraph breaks, although they refer to them differently, calling them “Invisible”. If you need to remove them from your Pages document, go to the “View” menu at the top of your screen and select “Hide Invisibles.” You can also use the keyboard shortcut Shift+Command+I to turn them on or off in a snap.