How to Remove an Unknown Symbol from Word Odd-Page Footers
Question details
The user needs to remove an unrecognized symbol, such as a question-mark box, appearing in the odd-page footer of a document.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Editing document footers and dealing with unsupported characters, hidden formatting marks, or missing fonts.
- Observed behavior
- A question-mark box or other unknown symbol appears in the odd-page footer, often accompanied by unwanted tabs or paragraph marks due to missing fonts or document corruption.
Enable the 'Show/Hide ¶' feature in your Home tab to make hidden formatting marks like tabs (arrows) and paragraph breaks (pilcrows) visible, which will help you identify the exact source of the unknown symbol.
Delete the Unsupported Character and Extra Paragraph Marks
Manually remove the problematic symbols, unnecessary tabs, and blank paragraphs from the footer area.
Unrecognized symbols often appear when a document contains tabs or formatting marks that are tied to corrupt lines or unsupported characters. Removing these hidden elements cleans up the footer layout.
Double-click the footer area on an odd-numbered page to open the Header & Footer tools.
Locate the unknown symbol (often a question-mark box) next to the page number or within the blank space.
Highlight the symbol, any unnecessary tab arrows, and extra paragraph marks (¶), then press the Delete or Backspace key while being careful to keep the page number.
Instead of adding empty paragraph returns to create space, highlight your footer text, right-click to select 'Paragraph', and use the spacing tools to adjust the layout.
Replace or Install the Missing Font
Resolve font substitution issues that cause unknown symbol boxes to appear instead of the correct characters.
Use WPS Writer to Edit Footers and Fix Formatting Issues
WPS Office provides advanced formatting tools to easily view hidden symbols, edit odd and even page footers independently, and ensure perfect document layout without font substitution errors.
- 1. Open the document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document containing the footer issue.
- 2. Reveal hidden marks: Go to the 'Home' tab and click the 'Show/Hide Editing Marks' icon to reveal hidden paragraph marks and tabs.
- 3. Edit the footer: Double-click the footer area to activate the Header and Footer editing mode.
- 4. Clean up symbols: Select any unsupported symbols or extra paragraph marks and delete them, then close the Header and Footer tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a question mark box appear in my Word document?
This usually indicates an unsupported character or a missing font. The word processor substitutes the missing character with a placeholder box or a question mark because it cannot render the original glyph.
How do I see hidden tabs and paragraph marks in my footer?
Click the 'Show/Hide ¶' button on the Home tab. This reveals spaces as dots, tabs as arrows, and paragraph breaks as pilcrows (¶), making it easier to see what formatting is affecting your layout.
How can I add space in the footer without using blank paragraphs?
Instead of pressing Enter to create empty lines, select the text in the footer, right-click, choose 'Paragraph', and adjust the 'Spacing Before' or 'Spacing After' values to create clean, predictable spacing.
