Writer's workshop > Writing basics > Proofreading marks and symbols

Proofreading marks and symbols

Although a significant amount of editing and proofreading is now done using tools such as Microsoft’s track changes feature and Adobe’s commenting tool, you may find yourself faced with traditional proofreading marks and symbols on a printed document someday.

The following list shows some of the most common proofreading marks and symbols used by proofreaders and editors – and explains their meaning (note that some proofreaders will use different symbols than those shown here; if you see a symbol on a document and you’re not sure what it means, ask your proofreader).

Proofreading mark insert symbol Insert something; the text to be inserted will likely be provided in the margin

Proofreading mark delete symbol Delete

Close up space

Delete and close up

Proofreading mark add space symbol Add space

Proofreading mark transpose symbol Transpose

Proofreading mark spell out symbol Spell out

Proofreading mark make uppercase symbol Make uppercase

Proofreading mark make lowercase symbol Make lowercase

Proofreading mark let stand symbol Let stand

Proofreading mark make equal space symbol Make equal space

Proofreading mark insert a comma symbol Insert a comma

Proofreading mark insert period symbol Insert period

Proofreading mark insert semicolon symbol Insert semicolon

Proofreading mark insert colon symbol Insert colon

Proofreading mark insert hyphen symbol Insert hyphen

Proofreading mark insert en dash symbol Insert en dash

Proofreading mark insert em dash symbol Insert em dash

Proofreading mark insert apostrophe symbol Insert apostrophe

Proofreading mark insert question mark symbol Insert question mark

Proofreading mark insert exclamation mark symbol Insert exclamation mark

Proofreading mark insert parentheses symbol Insert parentheses

Proofreading mark insert brackets symbol Insert brackets

Proofreading mark insert quotation marks symbol Insert quotation marks

Proofreading mark set as bold symbol Set as bold

Proofreading mark set as italics symbol Set as italics

Proofreading mark wrong font symbol Wrong font

Proofreading mark move left symbol Move left

Proofreading mark move right symbol Move right

Proofreading mark move up symbol Move up

Proofreading mark move down symbol Move down

Proofreading mark center symbol Center

Proofreading mark begin paragraph Begin paragraph

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