Discussion:
Appearance of square brackets within text
(too old to reply)
Nick
2006-11-13 16:04:06 UTC
Permalink
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.

I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on the printed output.

Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
Jay Freedman
2006-11-13 16:32:41 UTC
Permalink
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the Tools >
Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by Nick
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
Nick
2006-11-13 17:01:57 UTC
Permalink
Problem solved. Thanks very much.

As far as I know, I have never intentionally created any bookmarks.Is it
something that can be done accidentally?

Nick
Post by Jay Freedman
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the Tools
Post by Jay Freedman
Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so all may benefit.
Post by Jay Freedman
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
Jay Freedman
2006-11-13 17:57:11 UTC
Permalink
Cross-references and tables of contents create bookmarks at the points they
refer to. That's probably where those came from.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by Nick
Problem solved. Thanks very much.
As far as I know, I have never intentionally created any bookmarks.Is
it something that can be done accidentally?
Nick
Post by Jay Freedman
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the
Tools > Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
Post by Nick
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
Suzanne S. Barnhill
2006-11-13 18:54:12 UTC
Permalink
But the bookmarks Word creates are always "hidden" and don't show the
brackets.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by Jay Freedman
Cross-references and tables of contents create bookmarks at the points they
refer to. That's probably where those came from.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by Nick
Problem solved. Thanks very much.
As far as I know, I have never intentionally created any bookmarks.Is
it something that can be done accidentally?
Nick
Post by Jay Freedman
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the
Tools > Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
Post by Nick
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
t***@msn.com
2006-11-13 19:45:23 UTC
Permalink
You can toggle Bookmark View on/off independently (of hidden items) under
Tools,Options, View tab.

Terry
Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
But the bookmarks Word creates are always "hidden" and don't show the
brackets.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by Jay Freedman
Cross-references and tables of contents create bookmarks at the points
they
Post by Jay Freedman
refer to. That's probably where those came from.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
Post by Jay Freedman
all may benefit.
Post by Nick
Problem solved. Thanks very much.
As far as I know, I have never intentionally created any bookmarks.Is
it something that can be done accidentally?
Nick
Post by Jay Freedman
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the
Tools > Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
Post by Nick
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
aalaan
2006-11-13 20:10:49 UTC
Permalink
Crikey! Suzanne on *receiving* end!
Post by t***@msn.com
You can toggle Bookmark View on/off independently (of hidden items) under
Tools,Options, View tab.
Terry
Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
But the bookmarks Word creates are always "hidden" and don't show the
brackets.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by Jay Freedman
Cross-references and tables of contents create bookmarks at the points
they
Post by Jay Freedman
refer to. That's probably where those came from.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
Post by Jay Freedman
all may benefit.
Post by Nick
Problem solved. Thanks very much.
As far as I know, I have never intentionally created any bookmarks.Is
it something that can be done accidentally?
Nick
Post by Jay Freedman
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the
Tools > Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
Post by Nick
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
Suzanne S. Barnhill
2006-11-13 20:53:12 UTC
Permalink
I'm pretty sure this just toggles the display of bookmarks in that dialog,
not in the text. I just looked at a document with a TOC (and consequently
bookmarks created by Word). With that box checked and the View option
checked, I see *no* bookmarks in the document.

What is even stranger, though, is that display of bookmarks must be
per-document. I checked the View option for that specific document, checked
the display, closed the document, then went back to Options to uncheck it
and found it unchecked. Fearing that I might have clicked Cancel rather than
OK after checking the box, I reopened the document, went to Options, and
found it checked. That is, checked for that specific document and not for
any other--one more of the View Options that appear to be application-wide
that are in fact document-specific. <sigh> Is this made clearer in Word
2007?
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
Post by t***@msn.com
You can toggle Bookmark View on/off independently (of hidden items) under
Tools,Options, View tab.
Terry
Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
But the bookmarks Word creates are always "hidden" and don't show the
brackets.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.
Post by Jay Freedman
Cross-references and tables of contents create bookmarks at the points
they
Post by Jay Freedman
refer to. That's probably where those came from.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
Post by Jay Freedman
all may benefit.
Post by Nick
Problem solved. Thanks very much.
As far as I know, I have never intentionally created any bookmarks.Is
it something that can be done accidentally?
Nick
Post by Jay Freedman
They're bookmarks. You can turn the display of them on or off in the
Tools > Options > View dialog.
--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.
Post by Nick
I am using Word 2003 with XP Home.
I have been working on some medium sized documents (400 to 500K) and
I have found grey square brackets ([ ]) showing up in the text above
where I am writing. They do not declare themselves using the show
punctuation button, and I can not delete them. They do not appear on
the printed output.
Probably an easy one, but I don't understand. Thanks, Nick
macropod
2006-11-13 22:51:54 UTC
Permalink
Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
But the bookmarks Word creates are always "hidden" and don't show the
brackets.
Not necessarily.

For some strange reason Word sometimes creates bookmarks with names like
'OLE_LINK1' etc, when text is merely copied & pasted. It also does this by
design if text is copied and pasted as a link. These bookmarks show up in
the normal way.

If Word has created any 'OLE_LINK' bookmarks that shouldn't be there,
deleting them won't do any harm.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
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