Zero-Width & Invisible Character Stripper
Remove zero-width spaces, invisible Unicode characters, and hidden formatting marks from text.
About This Free Online Zero-Width & Invisible Character Stripper
Our free online tool strips invisible and zero-width Unicode characters from your text that can cause problems in data processing, web forms, and document formatting. It removes zero-width space (U+200B), zero-width non-joiner (U+200C), zero-width joiner (U+200D), left-to-right mark (U+200E), right-to-left mark (U+200F), BOM (U+FEFF), soft hyphen (U+00AD), invisible separator (U+2060), and other hidden formatting characters. These invisible characters often get pasted from web pages, PDFs, and rich text editors, causing issues with validation, string comparison, and data processing.
Features of Our Zero-Width & Invisible Character Stripper
- Removes zero-width spaces (U+200B)
- Removes zero-width joiners and non-joiners (U+200C, U+200D)
- Removes direction marks (LRM, RLM — U+200E, U+200F)
- Removes BOM (U+FEFF) and soft hyphen (U+00AD)
- Removes invisible operators and word joiners
- Shows count of invisible characters removed
- Copy cleaned text to clipboard
- 100% private — browser-only processing
How to Use the Zero-Width & Invisible Character Stripper
Using this tool is simple and requires no signup or registration. Follow these steps:
- Paste your text that may contain invisible characters into the input area.
- View the analysis showing which invisible characters were found.
- The cleaned output appears automatically with all invisible characters removed.
- Click Copy to save the cleaned text to your clipboard.
Frequently Asked Questions About Zero-Width & Invisible Character Stripper
What are zero-width characters?
Zero-width characters are Unicode characters that take up no visible space but affect text processing. Common examples include zero-width space (used for line breaking), zero-width joiner (used in emoji sequences), and BOM (byte order mark used in UTF-16 files). They are invisible to the user but can break data processing.
How do invisible characters get into my text?
Invisible characters often sneak in when copying from web pages (especially from CMS editors), PDFs, Word documents, and rich text editors. They can also be deliberately inserted for text formatting or emoji rendering.
Will this affect visible emoji or special characters?
No. Only invisible/zero-width characters are removed. Visible emoji, symbols, and regular text characters are not affected. The tool specifically targets Unicode characters in the "Format" category and known zero-width code points.
Why Choose Text Toolbox?
Text Toolbox provides free, private, and instant online text tools. Unlike other text utility websites that require signup accounts or send your data to servers, all our tools process your text entirely in your browser. This means your content never leaves your device — we cannot see it, store it, or share it. Our tools are fast, lightweight, and work on any device with a modern web browser.