Remove Invisible Characters from Text
Text copied from websites, documents, and terminals often contains invisible characters that break code, corrupt data, and cause mysterious formatting issues. TextStow detects and removes hidden characters locally on your Mac.
Invisible Characters Cause Hidden Problems
Zero-width spaces, non-breaking spaces (nbsp), byte order marks (BOM), soft hyphens, directional control characters, and other invisible Unicode characters lurk in text copied from websites, Word documents, PDFs, and terminal output. They break code parsers, corrupt database imports, cause syntax errors, and create mysterious "why is this not working" debugging nightmares.
Detect and Remove Hidden Characters
Copy any text into TextStow and run the invisible character removal tool. Hidden Unicode characters are detected and stripped — zero-width spaces, BOM markers, non-breaking spaces, soft hyphens, and other control characters. Get clean, predictable text that works everywhere.
Perfect for Code, Data Entry, and Web Content
Developers copying code from blogs get invisible characters that break compilation. Data entry workers copying from spreadsheets get hidden characters that corrupt CSV import. Writers copying from Word documents get smart quotes and em-dashes that break markdown parsers. TextStow cleans all of these.
Local Processing Keeps Content Private
Unlike web-based invisible character removers, TextStow processes text entirely on your Mac. Code snippets, customer data, internal documents, and form entries never leave your machine or touch a third-party server.
Works with Other Text Cleaning Tools
After removing invisible characters, you can further clean text: remove extra spaces, fix line breaks, deduplicate lines, or normalize case. All text tools work together in the same local workflow without opening an editor.
History Makes Cleaned Text Recoverable
Cleaned text earlier but lost it? TextStow clipboard history keeps both the original text with invisible characters and your cleaned version searchable. Find any processed text, even hours later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can TextStow remove invisible characters from copied text?▾
Yes. TextStow detects and removes zero-width spaces, BOM, non-breaking spaces, soft hyphens, and other hidden Unicode characters.
What invisible characters does TextStow detect?▾
TextStow handles zero-width spaces, zero-width non-joiners, byte order marks (BOM), non-breaking spaces, soft hyphens, directional control characters, and other hidden Unicode characters.
Is text processing local and private?▾
Yes. All invisible character removal runs on your Mac with no data upload or network transfer.
Does it work with text copied from websites?▾
Yes. Text copied from websites, Word documents, PDFs, and terminals often contains invisible characters that TextStow cleans.
Can I find cleaned text later in clipboard history?▾
Yes. Both original text with invisible characters and your cleaned version are saved in your searchable clipboard history.
Why do invisible characters break code?▾
Invisible characters like zero-width spaces and BOM markers are valid Unicode but not valid in most programming languages. They cause syntax errors, broken parsers, and mysterious compilation failures.
Free Download TextStow
Text copied from websites, documents, and terminals often contains invisible characters that break code, corrupt data, and cause mysterious formatting issues. TextStow detects and removes hidden characters locally on your Mac.
Free Download