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How to Remove Invisible Tags from Glossary Files

This article explains what invisible tags are, how they affect your glossary files in Pairaphrase, and how to remove them using simple methods.

What Are Invisible Tags?

When users copy and paste glossary content from other software—such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, websites, or PDF files—into Excel to create CSV files for upload to Pairaphrase, invisible tags and formatting code can get carried over. These tags aren’t visible to the eye, but they interfere with glossary recognition in Pairaphrase, causing glossary terms to be ignored or mistranslated.

Examples include:

  • Hidden HTML tags (e.g., <span>, <div>)
  • Special formatting (e.g., bold, underline, superscript)
  • Extra spaces or non-breaking spaces
  • Unicode control characters

These artifacts can disrupt the way Pairaphrase identifies and enforces glossary terms during translation.

Why It Matters

Invisible tags prevent glossary terms from:

  • Being force-inserted into translations
  • Appearing as glossary matches during post-editing
  • Maintaining term consistency across translations

To ensure your glossary performs as expected in Pairaphrase, it's important to clean your file before uploading it.

How to Remove Invisible Tags From Glossary Files

Here are some simple, effective methods to clean your glossary terms:

Option 1: Paste Into a Plain Text Editor First

  1. Copy your source text (from Word, web, etc.).
  2. Paste it into a plain text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac).
  3. Select and copy the text again from the plain text editor.
  4. Paste it into Excel.

This method removes all rich text formatting, leaving only clean, plain characters.

Option 2: Use Excel’s “Clear Formats” Feature

  1. Select the entire range of cells where glossary terms are pasted.
  2. Go to the Home tab in Excel.
  3. Click Clear → Clear Formats.

This keeps your text but strips away any formatting that may contain invisible code.

Option 3: Save as CSV UTF-8 (Comma Delimited)

When you're ready to save your cleaned glossary:

  1. Go to File > Save As.
  2. Select CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv) from the file type dropdown.
  3. Save your file.

UTF-8 encoding ensures compatibility with Pairaphrase and helps prevent formatting artifacts during import.

Option 4: Ask ChatGPT to Clean Your CSV File

If you're working with a glossary file that contains invisible tags or formatting issues, you can upload it to ChatGPT and request a cleanup. This is a fast and easy way to remove:

  • Hidden HTML tags
  • Non-printable characters
  • Extra spaces
  • Strange formatting copied from other sources

Here’s how:

  1. Export your glossary as a CSV file.
  2. Open ChatGPT and upload your CSV.
  3. Ask something like:  “Please clean this CSV file to remove any invisible formatting, hidden characters, extra spaces, and HTML tags. Keep only plain text in each cell.”
  4. Download the cleaned version and re-upload it to Pairaphrase.

This method is especially helpful if you're unsure how to clean the file manually or if you want to double-check that no hidden formatting is present.

Pro Tip 

Avoid copying directly from styled content (emails, websites, PDFs) when possible. If you must, always run your content through a plain text tool first.

Still Seeing Issues?

If you've cleaned your file and are still seeing glossary errors in Pairaphrase:

  • Open your CSV in a code editor (like VS Code or Notepad++) to inspect for hidden tags.

  • Or contact our support team at pairaphrase.com/contact-us for help.