Invisible characters sit inside text without taking any room on screen. They break search, spell check, code and form validation. Paste your text and see exactly where they are.
0 words
2. What was found0 hidden
Counts by type appear here once you paste something.
Your text, hidden characters marked
Highlights appear here.
Files, batches, bookmarklet, presets Pro
Upload .docx, .txt or .md and download the cleaned file, clean many files into one zip, add a clean-on-paste bookmarklet and save your option sets. $4.99 a month or $29 a year.See Pro
Clean files
Word files keep their fonts, tables, pictures and styles. Only the text inside is changed. The options above apply.
Clean on paste
Saved presets
Presets are stored in this browser.
Most invisible characters are harmless to read and a nuisance to process. A zero-width space inside a word stops Ctrl+F from finding it. A soft hyphen can split a word in the middle of a table cell. A byte order mark at the start of a file can make a script fail on line one.
Plaincopy lists them by Unicode type and marks each one where it sits, so you can check that the right thing is being removed. Look-alike spaces such as the no-break space are replaced with a normal space instead of being deleted, so your words do not run together.
Switch on Tidy spacing if you also want double spaces collapsed and trailing spaces trimmed after the clean up.
How to use it
Paste your text.
Check the highlighted view for the characters found.
Copy the clean text, or use Pro to clean a whole .docx, .txt or .md file.
Questions
Which characters count as invisible?
Zero-width space, non-joiner, joiner, word joiner, byte order mark, soft hyphen, bidirectional marks, variation selectors, tag characters and a handful of control codes and fillers.
Why is a no-break space replaced, not deleted?
It stands in for a real space between words. Deleting it would join the words.
Does it change my visible words?
No. Only characters you cannot see are touched, plus any typography option you switch on.
Related
Free for a paste. Pro for the pile.
Free
$0
Paste up to 2,000 words at a time. Every cleaning option, highlighting and counts by type.
Pro monthly
$4.99 / month
Unlimited length. Upload .docx, .txt and .md and download the cleaned file. Batch files as a zip. Clean-on-paste bookmarklet. Saved presets.
Yes. Free cleans up to 2,000 words per paste with every option: hidden characters, dashes, quotes, ellipsis and markdown.
What does Pro add?
Unlimited length, .docx, .txt and .md upload with a cleaned download (Word formatting kept), batch files as one zip, a clean-on-paste bookmarklet and saved presets.
How do I cancel?
Use the Stripe billing page (link under Pricing, "Manage or cancel") and sign in with the email you paid with. Cancelling stops the next charge and Pro ends at the end of the period you paid for.
Is my text uploaded?
No. Pasted text and files are cleaned inside your browser. Our server only checks that a payment is active.