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Word 2016 - Save as Plain Text

Anonymous
2018-03-07T12:12:04+00:00

In Word 2016, when using save as plain text, multiple new lines are saved to the output that do not exist in the document being saved. This appears to be different to previous versions of Word, including 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003. 

Even if you start a new word document and go straight to Save as, Save as Type = Plain Text (*.txt) these additional lines can be seen. 

How can these new lines be removed?

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-03-14T14:19:58+00:00

    Hi All,

    I found the cause of the problem, to be with a third party add-in. When the add in is active, it adds 14 lines during conversion to plain text. Disabling the add-in correct the problem.  I'll take this back to the developer of the add-in.

    Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

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  2. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.9K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-03-14T04:43:49+00:00

    I do not see the issue here using Word 2016 Version 1802 (Build 9029.2167 Click-to-Run) Monthly Channel.

    Make sure that your normal.dotm template does not contain a whole string of empty paragraphs.

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  3. Charles Kenyon 166.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-03-07T13:40:20+00:00

    I did check and see that the empty paragraphs are real, not just something that shows up on the conversion window. You can open the .txt file in NotePad and remove them. If you open them in Word and delete them, they will be replaced when you save it.

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  4. Charles Kenyon 166.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2018-03-07T13:35:45+00:00

    Yes, it does. It is the similar in Word 2013 and Word 2010. It was not this way in Word 97-2007.

    These are not formatting characters, exactly, they are empty paragraphs, denoted by the pilcrow formatting characters.

    This seems to be an artifact of the conversion process.

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  5. DaveM121 871.3K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2018-03-07T12:28:03+00:00

    Hi Daniel, those are the formatting characters, shich are normally invisible in Word Documents, try changing the encoding options on that save dialog, you seem to have text encoding set to MS DOS, try Microsoft Default, ASCII . . . etc. to see if this resolves this issue . . .

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