How to get rid of grey square bracket for zotero citation in Microsoft Word?

alexisg0208 · March 5, 2024

Hello, I am currently using Zotero version 6.0.33 with the Microsoft Word plug in. I am using the following document preferences:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u10000697/vwxdnt7u72qoxgx3j9qm.png

I have noticed that in some of my sentences there are some grey open brackets [ and closed brackets ] and I am not sure what purpose they serve or how to delete them. I have tried backspacing them but they do not go away and are distracting. Does anyone know how to get rid of them in the document? Thanks!!

dstillman · March 5, 2024

Can you provide a screenshot of what you're seeing?

alexisg0208 · March 6, 2024

Sure. Please see the screenshots below. Hope this helps!
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u10000697/247by267mnhxqk2n1451.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u10000697/khvyjc7odhsbmoo3chy8.png
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u10000697/he5i5omuujxbfljm28vs.png

adamsmith · March 6, 2024

Those are almost certainly unrelated to Zotero. Are you working in a template? They are related to restricted editing settings, see e.g. https://superuser.com/questions/479118/get-rid-of-gray-brackets-arond-editable-text-in-restricted-word-docs (or just google grey square brackets in Word for many similar answers)

alexisg0208 · March 6, 2024

Thank you so much! I was able to get rid of them by following the instructions in the link you provided.