Invisible Character Detector
Something in your text is not what it seems — a password that won't work, a string that won't match, a form that keeps rejecting valid input. Paste it below and see every hidden character, listed by name and code point.
🔒 Runs 100% in your browser — your text never leaves this page.
Detect first, decide later
Unlike blind find-and-replace, this tool shows you exactly what it found before you change anything. The Detected characters panel lists each suspicious character with its Unicode code point (like U+200B), its official name, and how many times it appears. The category counters show where the problems are concentrated: invisible characters, non-standard spaces, typographic dashes, smart quotes or Markdown markers. If you only want a diagnosis, stop there — the cleaned version on the right is optional.
Classic mysteries this solves
A password copied from an email fails, because a trailing zero-width space came along. Two "identical" cells in Excel won't match, because one contains a non-breaking space. A username is rejected as invalid, because it carries a bidirectional mark from copy-paste. A tweet or bio looks empty but isn't, because it is built from Hangul filler characters. An essay passes the eye test but trips an AI detector, because it is sprinkled with narrow no-break spaces. In every case, the first step is the same: see the invisible.
Full coverage
The detector checks against a table of 400+ code points: the zero-width family, byte-order marks, soft hyphens, directional controls and isolates, variation selectors, Unicode tag characters (used to hide entire messages in plain sight), interlinear annotations, fifteen kinds of exotic spaces, and every dash and quote lookalike. It also knows which ones are legitimate — emoji joiners and Persian/Arabic/Indic joining marks are flagged as safe and left alone.
FAQ
Can I check text without modifying it?
Yes. Detection is automatic and read-only — the panel below the input lists everything found. The cleaned output on the right is there if you want it, but nothing happens to your original text.
What does "U+200B" mean?
It is the Unicode code point — the character's unique identifier. U+200B is the zero-width space. Knowing the code point lets you search for exactly what is in your text and understand where it came from.
Why would text contain hidden characters at all?
Copy-paste from websites, word processors, chat apps and AI tools all introduce them; some are deliberate (fingerprinting, anti-copy tricks, hidden messages in Unicode tags), most are accidental typography.
Is this safe for sensitive text like passwords?
Yes — everything runs locally in your browser. Nothing you paste is transmitted anywhere, and the page works offline.