Hidden Characters Appear | Outlook 2016 / 2019 | macOS
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Example Of Hidden Characters (Formatting Marks) Outlook 2019 Mac

Hidden characters (formatting marks) automatically appear in Outlook 2016 / 2019 for macOS


Issue: Hidden characters (formatting marks) automatically appear when you start typing a new email draft, or an email reply, using Outlook 2016 or 2019 for macOS

When carrying out Apple IT support we find that resolving this is an easy solution but very hard to find. You need to:

  1. Open Outlook menu (top left) > Preferences
  2. Switch to the Fonts sub menu
  3. Click each of the three Font… buttons in turn to edit your font preferences for New, Replies or Plain Text emails respectively
  4. In each of these Font editor sections, UNTICK the “Hidden” checkbox, if it’s enabled

What we’re doing here is telling Outlook that we do NOT want hidden characters to display by default, when we start typing a new or reply email.

The exact same preferences area allows you to change your default font size, font type and other font-related preferences when sending emails in Outlook for Mac 2016 or 2019.

This is great if you always like to write in Arial, Helvetica or some other font, aside from the default Calibri at 12pt.

Outlook 2019 Mac Preferences Fonts

Outlook 2019 Mac Default Font Settings

Outlook 2019 Mac Default Font Editor Remove Hidden Formatting Marks

 

Example Of Hidden Formatting Marks Outlook 2019 Mac

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Date Comments
Sep 15th Jack and Diogo were very supportive and tried a few methods to solve the issues on my macbook. Gabi was also very supportive and resolved the issue with my macbook.
Sep 11th Super quick which was greatly appreciated given the time pressure, thank you.
Sep 10th It took too long to get it sorted. Phillip was the one who fixed the issue. Thank you.
Sep 8th Chris was fantastic
Sep 4th Issue was rectified quickly and the person who helped me politely and gave me great confidence
Sep 4th Jack sorted in no time. Thank you Jack!
Sep 4th Jack was fast straight to the point and he solved everything.
Sep 2nd Jack is always awesome!! Always solves the issue and goes above and beyond to sort the problem out. Can't fault!
Aug 27th I did have to wait but in the end it was very professional support, thank you.
Aug 26th Jack was fab as always, thank you. Response time was slower than usual though.
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