Show / Hide Button in Microsoft Word I cannot tell you how helpful using this feature can be. To view hidden text on the screen, click Preferences on the Word menu, click View, and then select the Hidden text check box. Microsoft Word indicates hidden text by underlining it with a dotted line. Character formatting that allows you to show or hide specified text. Unfortunately, using “Find and Replace” to search for and delete hidden text does not remove it from everywhere in your document, such as in footnotes, endnotes, headers, footers, etc. On the “Find and Replace” dialog box, click “Replace All.” Your hidden text is deleted from your document.