getting rid of a weird formatting mark

[xhgrrr]

Hi, I am editing a manuscript that is riddled with a formatting mark I can't identify. It looks like an oval (not the circle that represents a nonbreaking space) and is positioned high on the line (where quotation marks are placed). Any idea what this mark is? If so, how can I get rid of it without manually deleting it from all 344 pages?

Thanks for your time!

[Robert2]

Try selecting that character and only that character. Then, press “Ctrl+C” to send it to the Windows clipboard.
When this is done, go to Unicode Character Finder, and paste the clipboard contents with “Ctrl+V”.
This should help you identify which Unicode character it is.
If necessary, you can then replace it with any other appropriate character.

[xhgrrr]

Thanks Robert,

I tried your suggestion, but since it's a formatting mark, it won't "paste" into the decoder. It is only visible in Word when the "show formatting marks" is enabled.

[Stefan Blom]

Make a screen shot and attach the image to a message in this thread.

[Charles Kenyon]

See What do all those funny marks, like the dots between the words in my document, and the square bullets in the left margin, mean?
I don't spot an oval on that page. A screenshot would help.

You can attach an image in this forum without first posting on the web by clicking the Go Advanced button at the bottom of the typing window and clicking on the paperclip.

[xhgrrr]

Attached is the print screen of the formatting mark. Thanks!

[JimP]

Those characters are not from Word but, are often the result of text being copied from the web and pasted into a Word document. I believe the only way you are going to get rid of them is to delete them individually. Or, if you don't delete them, they do not print out on your document but may appear as an additional space.

[Charles Kenyon]

I suspect an n-space but JimP may be right.

[xhgrrr]

Appreciate the suggestions. Charles, if it is an n-space, is there anyway to remove them all at once?

[Robert2]

There is nothing like an “n-space” in word processing. At best, or at worst, “n-Space” is “an American video game developer”. See n-Space
What it might be though is a typographic “en”, i.e. an “EN SPACE” (Unicode U+2002).
It might also be any of the multiple ways to code spaces through Unicode. Have a look at Unicode spaces
But in the end, it might be something else that Word chose to render in that way…
The only way you might be able to get rid of these characters all at once is through the “Ctrl+H” dialog, provided you can enter (copy/paste?) the appropriate code into the Find What box…

[Robert2]

If that formatting mark is interpreted as some kind of space character by Word, you might be able to replace all of them at once with the following Find/Replace operation:
Find What: <space><space>
Replace With: <space>
It just might work…
It works when an ordinary space character is followed by a non-breaking space in the document window.

[Stefan Blom]

You can copy the character into the "Find what" box (in the Find & Replace dialog) and then replace it with nothing or with an ordinary space, if you prefer that.

[Robert2]

Originally Posted by Stefan Blom

You can copy the character into the "Find what" box (in the Find & Replace dialog) and then replace it with nothing or with an ordinary space, if you prefer that.

This is what I suggested in the first place, but as the OP said, being formatting marks, these characters cannot be copied nor pasted. Try copy/pasting a paragraph end mark. It simply does not work.

If the OP posted a short sample document containing a few of these formatting marks, we might be able to devise a workaround.

[Stefan Blom]

If the assumptions made in this thread are correct, that is, that these characters are en spaces or em spaces, then they can certainly be copied. I have tested that.

[Robert2]

Originally Posted by Stefan Blom

If the assumptions made in this thread are correct, that is, that these characters are en spaces or em spaces, then they can certainly be copied. I have tested that.

These were gratuitous assumptions. EM and EN space characters can indeed be copy/pasted, but the OP did say that he tried to copy the characters in his document, and they could not be copied.