Outlook keeps showing formatting marks

Question

Introduction

I ask this question to gather some information about a technical issue in the Outlook Classic app.

App and OS info

The app: Microsoft Outlook for Microsoft 365 MSO Version 2502 Build 16 (64 bit).

The operating system: Windows 11 Enterprise, version 23H2.

Description of the issue

When the user tries to answer to an e-mail or when the user tries to write an e-mail from scratch, Outlook shows formatting marks by default. If the user disables formatting marks by clicking the button on "text formatting" tab of the e-mail editor's ribbon, the formatting marks are gone, but then the user starts typing, the formatting marks re-appear.

Already-done resolution tries

I tried to search on Outlook settings, and in the "e-mail editor", the option about showing formatting marks is already unflagged.

Answer 1

Can I have please have some help with this awful issue? I just recently finally upgraded from Office 2016 to 2019 and these formatting menaces appeared in my emails. I hate them and I don't ever want to see them again or need to turn them off manually every time I create, Reply to or Forward an email.

My Question over at Microsoft Answers is getting me no help. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/why-all-these-dots-instead-of-the-spaces-that-were/a5c7966c-7a56-4db9-b58b-079ea251d516

This page https://www.extendoffice.com/documents/outlook/1414-outlook-turn-off-show-hide-formatting-marks.html#a2 that I found doesn't help me since I can't even figure out what they meant saying "1. In the new composing message window, click File > Options. See screenshot:" in the 2nd "Permanently turn off formatting marks or characters in Outlook" section. I've looked everywhere and can't even figure out what is meant by new composing message window. My Outlook 2019 doesn't have anything that looks like the image they posted.

Answer 2

Hi @Ishtar Terra ,

Thank you for reaching out. Let’s work through this formatting marks issue step by step. Here’s what I recommend:

Step 1: Check Microsoft Word’s Formatting Settings  

Outlook uses Word as its email editor, so Word’s settings might be overriding Outlook’s.  

1. Open Microsoft Word.  
2. Go to File > Options > Display.  
3. Under "Always show these formatting marks on the screen", uncheck all boxes (e.g., paragraph marks, hidden text).  
4. Click OK and restart Outlook.  

Step 2: Reset Outlook’s Email Template  

A corrupted email template might be forcing the marks to reappear.  

1. Close Outlook.  
2. Press Windows Key + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, and hit Enter.  
3. Find the file NormalEmail.dotm and rename it to NormalEmail_old.dotm.  
4. Restart Outlook (it will rebuild the template).  

Step 3: Repair Office Installation  

Corrupted Office files can sometimes cause unexpected behavior.  

1. Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.  
2. Right-click Microsoft 365 > Change > Repair.  
3. Choose Quick Repair first. If the issue persists, rerun and select Online Repair.  

Step 4: Test Outlook in Safe Mode  

Add-ins might be interfering. Let’s rule that out.  

1. Close Outlook.  
2. Press Windows Key + R, type outlook.exe /safe, and hit Enter.  
3. Try composing an email. If formatting marks don’t appear:  
4.  Go to File > Options > Add-ins.  
5. Under COM Add-ins, click Go… and uncheck all add-ins.  
6. Re-enable them one by one to identify the culprit.  

Step 5: Create a New Outlook Profile  

A corrupted profile might be causing the issue.  

1. Close Outlook.  
2. Open Control Panel > Mail (32-bit) > Show Profiles.  
3. Click Add, create a new profile, and set it as default.  
4. Test composing an email in the new profile.  

Step 6: Check for Updates  

Ensure Outlook and Windows are fully updated:  

• In Outlook: File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now.  
• In Windows: Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.  

Let me know if the issue persists after these steps.

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