Formatting Issues

How to Fix Question Marks Appearing Instead of Text in Word

Elise Williams Oct 16, 2026 871 views

Question details

The user needs to resolve an issue where typed or pasted text appears as question marks instead of the actual characters.

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Typing, pasting, or opening documents containing specific characters or foreign languages.
Observed behavior: The text renders as question marks because the applied font does not support the characters or the encoding is incorrect.

Before you start

Highlight the affected text to check if the underlying characters are still registered by your system, and ensure you know the original language or source of the text.

Solution 1Recommended

Change to a Compatible Font

Use this method if the characters are unsupported by the currently selected font.

Fonts do not always contain glyphs for every language or special character. When Word encounters an unsupported character, it replaces it with a question mark or a blank box.

Select the Text

Highlight the question marks or the entire paragraph experiencing the issue.

Open Font Settings

Navigate to the 'Home' tab on the Word ribbon.

Apply a New Font

Click the Font drop-down menu and select a widely supported font, such as Arial, Calibri, or a specific font designed for your target language.

Solution 2

Adjust Document Encoding Settings

Use this when opening plain text files or importing documents from other systems.

Solution 3

Verify Proofing Language and Input Method

Fix inconsistencies between your keyboard's input language and Word's internal language settings.

Powerful Word Processor

Easily Manage Fonts and Text Encodings with WPS Writer

Avoid text corruption and question mark errors by using WPS Writer. It offers robust font compatibility, smart text encoding recognition, and a seamless typing experience for multilingual documents.

1. Open WPS Writer: Launch WPS Office and open a new or existing document.
2. Select the Text: Highlight any text that is displaying incorrectly.
3. Change the Font: Go to the Home tab and apply a universal font like Arial from the drop-down menu.
4. Save with UTF-8 Encoding: When saving plain text files, WPS Writer automatically prompts you to select an encoding like UTF-8 to preserve all characters.

Smart encoding detection to prevent garbled textHigh compatibility with Microsoft Word (.docx) formatsExtensive built-in font library for multiple languagesLightweight, fast, and free to use

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do copied and pasted texts turn into question marks?

This usually happens when the destination document's font doesn't support the copied characters, or the source text has a different encoding format that Word cannot automatically translate.

Will changing the font restore my original text?

Yes, if the underlying character data is intact and only the font lacks the required glyphs, switching to a compatible font will instantly reveal the correct characters.

How can I ensure my foreign language text displays correctly?

Install the appropriate language pack for your operating system and apply a font designed for that specific language in your document to ensure all characters are rendered.

What is UTF-8 encoding and why does it matter?

UTF-8 is a universal character encoding standard that supports almost all languages. Saving and opening files in UTF-8 prevents characters from being replaced by question marks or blank squares.

Document & File Issues