Word lets you hide text so you can check out or print your file as if the text isn’t there. This might appear pointless– why not just eliminate the text if you do not desire someone to read it– however surprise text does have some fascinating usages. Let’s take a look at what hidden text is (and what it isn’t), why you might want to conceal text, and how to do it.

What is Hidden Text?

Word conceals text by utilizing formatting marks– the very same method you had actually format text as bold or italic. Rather of eliminating the text, Word applies a format mark that means “don’t display this text.”

Since covert text is just standard text with format marks applied, anybody who can modify the document can look for surprise text and show it. So it’s not a security procedure, and you should never ever depend on concealed text to avoid a figured out individual from reading something in your document. If you do not want someone to read something you’ve composed, either get rid of the text totally or do not send the file to them.

Why Would you Want to Hide Text?

Concealing text does have its usages. If you want to print a file without some text appearing, you can do that with covert text (although make certain you haven’t turned on the option to print hidden text). One fantastic use for this is if you had a file you wish to print and distribute to an audience, but you desired your copy of the file to include notes simply for you.

You might likewise desire various people to examine various parts of a file, and concealed text presents a simple method to show only those parts that you need an individual to review (as long as you don’t mind them seeing the concealed text if they find it).

You can also conceal images and other embedded things, which can reduce print time and expense, as well as make your file more understandable if you simply desire pure text.

Note: You can only do this in the Word customer on your computer. Word Online and Word apps for Android and iPhone don’t (yet) allow you to conceal text.

How Do You Hide Text?

Concealing text is as easy as it gets. Select the text you want to hide, change to the “Home” tab on the Ribbon, and after that click the arrow at the bottom right of the “Font” group.

This opens up the Font window. Switch on the “Hidden” alternative and after that click the “OK” button.

That’s all there is to it. The text you chose is no longer visible as if you ‘d erased it from the file. If all that mouse clicking is excessive for you, there’s also a keyboard faster way to conceal text– select your text and hit Ctrl+Shift+H.

How Do You Hide Objects Like Images?

You conceal items in the same method as you conceal text– by picking them and ticking the”Hidden” field in the Font panel (or utilizing Ctrl+Shift+H). This technique only works if your object uses the default text covering alternative of “In line with text,” which is when Word treats an object as simply another piece of text. If your things has a various text wrapping option, but you still want to hide it, you’ll have to conceal the paragraph to which the item is anchored. This hides the anchored things at the very same time. (Not sure what an “anchored things” is? Do not fret, we’ve got you covered with our guide to positioning things in Word.)

How Do You Unhide Text?

To unhide text, reverse the process. Select it and strike Ctrl+Shift+H or untick the”Hidden” field in the Font panel.

How do you select hidden text in the very first place if you can’t see it? Due to the fact that surprise text is just regular text with formatting marks used, you need to show all of the formatting marks. This reveals your concealed text.

To show all the formatting marks, click Home > >

Show/Hide. You can likewise strike Ctrl+Shift +8 if you prefer. This reveals all of the non-printing characters your file– things like paragraph marks, areas, and tab characters.

Surprise text has a dotted line underneath it to differentiate it from regular text.

Select the surprise text and use Ctrl+Shift+H or the Font > > Hidden setting to unhide the text.

If you’ve got a lot of hidden text to unhide, or you don’t wish to browse the whole file for surprise text, no problem. Select all the text in the document by hitting Ctrl+An and after that utilize either of those exact same methods (Ctrl+Shift+H or Font > > Hidden )to unhide all concealed text in the whole file (other than in headers or footers, which you’ll need to do independently).

Click Home > > Show/Hide or hit Ctrl+Shift +8 again to conceal the format marks.

We discussed at the top of this article that you can just hide/unhide text in the Word client and not in Word Online. The very same chooses revealing formatting marks, which you can do in the Word desktop app.

Can You Delete All Hidden Text at the same time?

Yes, and we’ve formerly shown you a way of doing this using Find and Replace. You can utilize that method to choose which concealed text to remove, but if you just want to guarantee that any covert text is deleted, go to File > > Check For Issues > > Inspect Document.

The choice you’re trying to find is right at the bottom, and it’s called “Hidden Text.” Ensure any other alternatives are turned off (unless you want to use them at the same time) and click the “Inspect” button.

If the Document Inspector discovers any covert text, it reveals you a “Remove All” button. Click this to delete all concealed text in the document.

You can not reverse this action, so make sure you actually wish to remove all concealed text or that you’ve conserved another copy of the document first.

Does This Work With Shared Documents?

If you use OneDrive or SharePoint, you can share your files with other individuals. Surprise text is still hidden when individuals with whom you’ve shared it see the document in Word Online since Word Online does not let you hide/unhide text or show format marks. They can still download a copy and view it in the Word app. When they do that, they can click Home > > Show/Hide and see the surprise text. So once again, don’t share a file with concealed text unless you’re alright with those individuals potentially seeing what you’ve concealed.

Since covert text is just standard text with formatting marks applied, anybody who can modify the file can browse for covert text and show it. If you want to print a file without some text showing up, you can do that with concealed text (although make sure you have not turned on the alternative to print concealed text). Due to the fact that concealed text is just regular text with format marks applied, you require to show all of the format marks. If you’ve got a lot of surprise text to unhide, or you don’t want to browse the whole document for covert text, no issue. Hidden text is still concealed when the people with whom you’ve shared it view the document in Word Online because Word Online does not let you hide/unhide text or program formatting marks.