Word troubleshooting Quick Fix: Fixing layout vs manual line break

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Issue

Layout with paragraph mark

When you enter text in Word, using paragraph marks the layout will work correctly like spacing and fitting text with left and right margin ("justify").

Sample of paragraph mark and layout


Using the paragrap mark

You'll see "¶" (without double quotes) in the code view of Word.

To enter or end a paragraph, use the enter button. (using normal enter)

Layout with manual line break

On the other hand, if you use a manual line break (the broken arrow mark on your enter)

This looks like "<┘" (without the double quotes of course).

Sample of line break layout with justify

 

How to show hidden layout and hidden formatting symbols in Word

To show hidden formatting and symbols in Word, you need to find the reverse "P" symbox in our "Home" menu, or you can use the CTLR+8. That is CTLR+SHIFT+!-button, in case the "8" needs the shift button to show.

Troubleshooting

The line break code can mess up the layout.

Limit the use of line breaks, only use it for specific situations where the line break is useful. Use the paragraph mark by default.

Check the layout, using the hidden code. Find the hard line breaks.

Solution

Replace the manual line brake code (^l) with a paragraph mark (^p).

  1. Use the replace function (CTRL+H)
  2. Enter "Find What:" : ^l (this is accent cirumflex + lowercase l, aka the short code for line brake)
  3. Enter "Replace with:" as ^p (circumflex lowercase p)
  4. Then hit replace all

 

Additional info

Inserting dummy text

If you want to quickly fill a word document with intelligent rubbish. Type =lorem(p,l) P is the number of paragraphs you need, and l the number of lines.

There is more, also random text is possible, but full explanation is here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/212251/how-to-insert-sample-text-into-a-document-in-word

Sample file

 If you want a quick demo to see, then check this sample Word file on my github