The zero-width space is U+200B. It has no width and no glyph, so you cannot see it, but it is a real character that your software counts.
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2. What was found0 hidden
Counts by type appear here once you paste something.
Your text, hidden characters marked
Highlights appear here.
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You usually find one by accident. A word will not match in search, a cell in a spreadsheet looks equal to another but is not, or a character count is off by a few. Pasting from web pages, chat apps, PDFs and AI tools can all carry zero-width spaces into your document.
Paste the text above. Every U+200B is shown as a ZWSP tag at its exact position, and the count appears next to the type. The related characters U+200C (zero-width non-joiner), U+200D (zero-width joiner) and U+2060 (word joiner) are shown and removed the same way.
One exception worth knowing: the zero-width joiner holds emoji together, such as a family or a profession emoji. Plaincopy keeps those joiners by default and removes the stray ones between ordinary letters.
How to use it
Paste the text with the hidden spaces.
Find the ZWSP tags in the Found panel.
Copy the clean version.
Questions
What is U+200B?
The Unicode zero width space. It marks a place where a line may break and takes no room on screen.
Can a zero-width space be a legitimate character?
Yes, in some scripts and in long URLs where it allows a line break. In plain English text it is almost always unwanted.
How do I type one to test?
Use the sample button on this page. It inserts a few hidden characters so you can see how they show up.
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