How to remove black square dots on Word

Question

How to remove black square dots on Word

Virginia Pye 20

I can't remove a line of square dots from a Word doc. When I delete it, the same line of black square marks pops up again after the next paragraph. It won't go away.

Thanks for any help.

Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T15:48:51.62+00:00

When I click on it a symbol appears that looks like a dark line intersected by an arrow that points up and down. What does that mean? Thanks for your help!
John Korchok 6,126 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-01-21T16:26:03.5166667+00:00

You can add screen shots using the Insert image tool:
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T16:42:13.91+00:00

Thanks! Here you go:
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T16:43:29.7666667+00:00
John Korchok 6,126 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-01-21T17:07:59.63+00:00

It could be a border that is included in the style used on that paragraph. To test, select the paragraph and apply a different style.

If the text is in a table, the line could be a table border. To test, select the text and see if the Table Design and Table Layout tabs appear in the Ribbon.

If neither of those are the case, you can upload a sample file to a cloud service, then post a share link here so we can take a look at the file.
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:16:18.7166667+00:00

John, that was it!! Thanks so much. I highlighted the paragraph, including the line of square dots, opened up the Design tab and found that the "Border" icon was lit up. So I clicked it off and the line of black squares disappeared!

Many thanks for your help!
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:35:04.6566667+00:00

Oh dear! Now when I erase one line of black squares, it just pops up elsewhere.
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:38:05.6133333+00:00

Can you tell what exactly to click on to get them to go away? Now, when I erase one line it pops up on the previous paragraph, so it comes back again, just slightly up the page. Thank you!!
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T18:14:31.96+00:00

Thanks again!
Stefan Blom 3,281 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-01-21T20:22:35.1233333+00:00

See http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/TroublesomeLines.htm#Borders (note that the instructions are not specific to Word for Mac, though).
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-22T16:09:33.8266667+00:00

Thanks! I'm all set now.

Accepted answer

1 additional answer

Your answer

Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T15:48:51.62+00:00

When I click on it a symbol appears that looks like a dark line intersected by an arrow that points up and down. What does that mean? Thanks for your help!
John Korchok 6,126 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-01-21T16:26:03.5166667+00:00

You can add screen shots using the Insert image tool:
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T16:42:13.91+00:00

Thanks! Here you go:
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T16:43:29.7666667+00:00
John Korchok 6,126 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-01-21T17:07:59.63+00:00

It could be a border that is included in the style used on that paragraph. To test, select the paragraph and apply a different style.

If the text is in a table, the line could be a table border. To test, select the text and see if the Table Design and Table Layout tabs appear in the Ribbon.

If neither of those are the case, you can upload a sample file to a cloud service, then post a share link here so we can take a look at the file.
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:16:18.7166667+00:00

John, that was it!! Thanks so much. I highlighted the paragraph, including the line of square dots, opened up the Design tab and found that the "Border" icon was lit up. So I clicked it off and the line of black squares disappeared!

Many thanks for your help!
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:35:04.6566667+00:00

Oh dear! Now when I erase one line of black squares, it just pops up elsewhere.
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:38:05.6133333+00:00

Can you tell what exactly to click on to get them to go away? Now, when I erase one line it pops up on the previous paragraph, so it comes back again, just slightly up the page. Thank you!!
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T18:14:31.96+00:00

Thanks again!
Stefan Blom 3,281 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-01-21T20:22:35.1233333+00:00

See http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/TroublesomeLines.htm#Borders (note that the instructions are not specific to Word for Mac, though).
Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-22T16:09:33.8266667+00:00

Thanks! I'm all set now.

Answer 1

John Korchok 6,126 Volunteer Moderator

As I wrote earlier: "It could be a border that is included in the style used on that paragraph. To test, select the paragraph and apply a different style." So to get rid of it, you would have to use a different style, or edit the current style to remove the border.

To edit a style, right-click on the highlighted style in the Style Gallery and choose Modify. In the Modify Style dialog, click on the Format dropdown in the lower left and choose Border. Then remove the border.

Jiajing Hua 18,065 Reputation points Moderator

2025-01-22T01:33:03.6866667+00:00

Hi @John Korchok

It's helpful.

Thank you, and highly appreciate your contribution to this issue

Answer 2

Michael Taylor 60,326

I suspect that isn't actual dots in your document. That is most likely Word showing you page boundaries, I'd wager. It is showing you where one page ends and the next begins.

Go to View in the ribbon bar. Are you in Draft mode? That would show a page separator.

Virginia Pye 20 Reputation points

2025-01-21T17:13:15.7666667+00:00

I put it into draft mode and it doesn't seem to be the small dots that indicate a new page. The black squares are still there.

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How to remove black square dots on Word

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