Formatting Issues

How to Fix Diamond Question Mark Symbols in Word Text

Natalie Taylor Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to remove or fix diamond symbols containing question marks that appear when copying and pasting text into Word.

How to Fix Diamond Question Mark Symbols in Word Text

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Pasting text copied from a webpage or another application into a document.
Observed behavior: Unsupported or corrupted characters are replaced with a diamond-with-question-mark symbol () within the pasted text.

Before you start

Ensure you still have access to the original source text (like the webpage or application) so you can recopy the content if necessary during the troubleshooting process.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Paste Special to Insert Unformatted Text

Pasting text without its original formatting is the most effective way to strip out unsupported character encodings that cause the replacement symbol.

When you copy text from a website, you also copy hidden HTML formatting and encoding data. Stripping this formatting forces Word to apply its own standard encoding, which usually resolves the symbol errors.

Copy the original text

Highlight and copy the desired text from the source webpage or application.

Open Paste Special

Open your Word document, go to the 'Home' tab on the ribbon, click the drop-down arrow below the 'Paste' button, and select 'Paste Special'.

Select Unformatted Text

In the dialog box, choose 'Unformatted Text' from the list of options and click 'OK'.

Use Paste Special to Insert Unformatted Text

Pro Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V in newer versions of Word, or right-click and select the 'Keep Text Only' clipboard icon to achieve the same result.

Solution 2

Use Notepad as a Formatting Filter

If Paste Special is not accessible, using a basic text editor like Notepad acts as a quick, foolproof filter for corrupted character data.

Solution 3

Verify Word's Font Settings

Sometimes the selected font does not support specific characters from the source text, resulting in the diamond replacement symbol.

Direct Solution in WPS Office

Easily Manage Text Formatting and Encoding with WPS Writer

WPS Writer offers an intuitive 'Keep Text Only' paste option that automatically strips away corrupted web formatting, preventing issues like the diamond question mark symbol from appearing in your documents.

1. Copy the source text: Highlight and copy the text from your web browser or original application.
2. Open WPS Writer: Launch WPS Office and open a new or existing document in WPS Writer.
3. Use Keep Text Only: Right-click on the document page where you want the text to go, and select 'Keep Text Only' (the icon with an 'A') from the paste options.

Advanced 'Keep Text Only' paste options to instantly strip corrupted web formatting.Flawless compatibility with Microsoft Word (.docx) formats and character encodings.Lightweight, fast, and completely free to use for everyday document processing.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the diamond with a question mark mean in Word?

The diamond with a question mark () is known as the Unicode replacement character. It appears when a software application like Word encounters text encoding it cannot recognize or display properly, often due to corrupted data, mismatched fonts, or copying from web pages.

Can changing my document's font fix these symbols?

Yes. In some cases, the issue occurs simply because your currently selected font does not support the specific character you pasted. Selecting the text and changing it to a widely supported font like Arial, Tahoma, or Segoe UI can often reveal the original character.

Why do these symbols only appear when I copy from specific websites?

Certain websites use unique character encodings (such as UTF-8 versus ISO-8859-1) or custom web fonts. When you copy text directly, Word tries to retain this source formatting, which results in unrecognized characters if the encoding does not translate perfectly into your Word environment.

Document & File Issues