What is a zero-width space?
A zero-width space is a Unicode character that can separate or control text without taking up visible space. It may be inserted intentionally for language or layout support, or arrive unnoticed through copying and pasting. Although invisible, it can affect searching, matching, wrapping, validation, and source code.
How do I remove zero-width spaces?
Leave Remove invisible formatting selected, then choose Revise text. TextSnoop removes supported zero-width characters, joiners, soft hyphens, and related invisible markers. Review the result when working with languages or code where an invisible character may be intentional.
Why does pasted text sometimes lose paragraph spacing?
Some applications represent paragraphs through clipboard HTML, visual styling, or a single line break instead of an explicit blank row. The destination may ignore that structure when pasting. Restore paragraph spacing converts supported rich boundaries and likely missing gaps into explicit blank rows that email and Word can preserve more reliably.
What does Reveal Hidden show?
It makes spaces, line endings, zero-width characters, and other supported markers visible in a separate view without changing the input.
What is the Cleanliness Score?
It is a simple heuristic based on supported issue counts and text length. It is not a quality, authorship, or safety judgment.
Can TextSnoop strip HTML while retaining readable text?
Yes. Turn on Strip HTML and decode entities. TextSnoop removes recognized tags, decodes supported entities, and retains readable text and line breaks where possible. Complex layouts such as tables may still need review after their visual structure is removed.
Can it remove Markdown formatting?
Yes. Turn on Strip Markdown syntax. TextSnoop removes supported headings, lists, link syntax, emphasis, quotes, and code markers while keeping the readable content. Ambiguous punctuation that may be ordinary text is left unchanged when it cannot be identified safely.
What is Unicode normalization?
Unicode can represent text that looks identical with different underlying character sequences. Normalization converts supported sequences into a consistent standard form, which can improve searching, comparison, validation, and compatibility. It does not translate the text or change its language.
What is the difference between NFC and NFKC?
NFC combines canonically equivalent character sequences while generally preserving meaningful distinctions. NFKC also folds many compatibility variants, such as certain width or presentation forms, into simpler equivalents. NFC is the safer default for most prose; use NFKC only when broader compatibility is more important than preserving those distinctions.
Can I safely use it with source code?
Yes, with care. Choose the Visual Studio or code editor destination and review the comparison before replacing your source. Turn off punctuation, HTML, Markdown, or NFKC changes unless you specifically want them, because whitespace, symbols, line endings, and Unicode distinctions can be meaningful in code.
Why might formatting still differ in the destination application?
Applications support different clipboard formats, fonts, styles, paragraph rules, and line-ending conventions. Copy For prepares a compatible version for the selected destination, but the receiving application ultimately controls how it renders the result.
How does Copy For preserve appearance?
Choose the destination application before copying. TextSnoop prepares compatible HTML or plain text and adjusts paragraph structure and line endings so paragraphs, lists, breaks, and spacing transfer as consistently as the destination allows.
Does TextSnoop upload or store my text?
No. Inspection and cleaning happen locally in your browser, and TextSnoop does not upload or store the text you paste or the cleaned result. If you submit feedback, only the feedback message and submission time are stored; your working text is not attached.
Does TextSnoop detect whether text was written by AI?
No. TextSnoop analyzes supported characters, spacing, punctuation, markup, and formatting patterns. Those patterns can appear in both human-written and AI-generated text, so they cannot establish who or what wrote it.
Does this remove an AI Watermark?
The tool removes only the specific characters and formatting selected in the cleaning rules. It does not claim to find or remove a universal AI watermark, change authorship, or defeat AI detection.