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 Name Comments
Sep 29th Hashmita P Very helpful and got my issue resolved swiftly. thank you!
Sep 29th Suzanne G Thanks for your help, Michael
Sep 22nd Amanda H Thanks, Lochie. Prompt effective treatment of annoying problem as usual!
Sep 20th Lynn H great service as always. many thanks
Sep 14th Longcroft O Thanks so much Jack, all sorted.
Sep 14th Longcroft O Fantastic as usual, thank you Lochie.
Sep 14th Amanda H I hope the problem is solved. Sorry not to have been able to find another example of what went wrong. Definitely I can now get at the word document I was being blocked from. So, thanks for your prompt effective treatment!
Sep 13th Nigel B Very practical and quick advice that made resolving the issue very efficient
Sep 6th Alexandra O Very quick and solved the problem easily, thank you Jack.
Sep 5th Chris S another one solved....