Remove hidden ghost characters, zero-width spaces, byte order marks, soft hyphens, and other invisible formatting from pasted text. See what was found, choose what to strip, and copy clean output instantly.
Cleaning runs live. Toggle options below to control what gets removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are ghost characters?
Ghost characters are invisible Unicode symbols that hide in copied text — zero-width spaces, byte order marks, soft hyphens, and non-breaking spaces. They can break search, SEO, code, and formatting without showing up on screen.
Where do ghost characters come from?
They often appear when copying from PDFs, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, websites, or email clients. Different apps insert invisible formatting characters that travel with the text when you paste it elsewhere.
What does normalize line endings do?
It converts Windows-style line breaks (CRLF) and old Mac line breaks (CR) to standard Unix line breaks (LF). This prevents double-spacing and formatting issues when pasting into code editors or CMS fields.
Should I remove control characters?
Control characters are non-printable ASCII characters (like tabs and form feeds). Enable this option if text still behaves strangely after removing zero-width characters. Tabs are preserved unless you also use Remove Extra Spaces.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. All cleaning runs entirely in your browser. Your text never leaves your device.
Can I detect invisible characters without removing them?
Yes. Use the Invisible Character Detector to highlight and identify hidden characters before you clean them.
Is this tool free and does it work on mobile?
Yes on both counts. The Ghost Character & Formatting Cleaner on draft21 is completely free with no sign-up required and works on all devices.