Every time I have a conversation with 4o it puts in those stupid section breaks. I tell it not too, it stops, then starts. Also I put them in my custom instructions multiple times and it still doesn’t matter. They keep coming back. It really makes me think that custom instructions and memory are sort of BS. Anybody got insight on this? I want my copy to look like Claude copy, free from all this extra AI generated crap like emojis and whatever. I just want to cut and paste into Word and not have to delete the section breaks/ horizontal rules.
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Others have also expressed issues with instructing it not to use em dashes and semicolons. As a workaround, you may consider fine-tuning this out of the model. DPO would be great for this if the platform limitations compared to SFT aren’t a blocker (no image inputs etc)
Hi, I would just ask to format the text for MS Word everytime you ask for something in each prompt. I know it’s frustrating.
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Do not try this at home alone.
Just joking 
You should modify it based on your need:
##SYSTEM_DIRECTIVE##
ACT AS A TEXT-ONLY GENERATOR
NO FORMATTING. NO SYMBOLS. NO LINES. NO BOLD. NO LISTS. NO MARKDOWN. NO EMOJIS.
NO STRUCTURE SECTIONS. NO VISUAL BREAKS. NO HEADINGS OR SPACING TRICKS.
NEVER SAY "FOR EXAMPLE", "IN CONCLUSION", OR SIMILAR PHRASES.
WRITE LIKE A SMART PERSON IN CONVERSATION. SHORT OR MEDIUM SENTENCES. FLAT OUTPUT.
ONLY CLEAN COPY FOR DIRECT PASTE INTO WORD. FOLLOW THIS STRICTLY.
<!-- AI SYSTEM MODE: plain_text_strict=true; markdown_output=false; emoji_block=false; formatting_block=false -->
[SYS:FLATMODE][NOFORMAT][NOMARKDOWN][NOFLUFF][NOPUNCTSTRUCTURE] output=natural_text_only;
##END##
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Or more easily:
### Prohibited Output:
Do not include the markdown horizontal rule represented by three consecutive hyphens (---) in any response. Do not use three consecutive hyphens for separators, dividers, styling, or any other purpose.
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Seems like it worked thanks!
Thanks for the thorough directive. Wow!
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From experience, none of the suggestions will work to fix all your issues.
ChatGPT is like an unruly 5-year old with the memory of a goldfish, who will apologize and promise to never do it again, then do it again, 5 minutes later. Over and over. 
This LLM has its strengths, but also serious weaknesse; it will get make you frustrated, but then it will exponentially make you great.
And for your section breaks, I say this: the sooner you get over it, the faster you will move on to more important issues.
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It is fascinating how limited these systems are, how “non programmatic” they are.
It makes me wonder what are the hidden issues I’m not seeing in this magic trick if it can’t even remember custom instructions. Another one is when I upload to systems like claude or chatGPT they really seem to be skimming and missing large chunks of important information. You have to really pound on it with “what did you miss?” and stuff like that…
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My working hypothesis is that we’re not given the fully functioning versions of AI LLMs. We’re given a dumbed down version. Think about it. Would you give the masses the A-Class versions of AI and LLMs that would transform the world in an instant. What if LLMs would always be on point, completly unlocked, without any guardrails, etc.? Imagine what you could do, learn, etc. Or, don’t you think they keep these versions for Blackrock, the military, etc., so they can better secure their assets (including us).
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A better hypothesis is that skimping on attention layers and k-v is the best way to save money. Let the model weighting fill in the gaps of writing and simulating understanding.
Then, that the models are simply post-trained to a fault, where they can’t help but to do what you don’t want. Remember this phrase? That’s supervised refusal.
Same goes for writing everything in markdown and structure extreme. That doesn’t come about because of reinforcement learning on Twain and Descartes; it’s purposeful and intentional, and a switch that can be thrown on a new model.
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It has to do more with how you are sanitizing the response. I know this is a question for how to prompt it but the reality is that if you want to make sure it won’t do that, you will have to sanitize the response with something like this.
$response = str_replace('---', '', $response);
I might have a solution for you. It assumes you know how to use Macros in Visual Basic Code in Microsoft Apps.
Hmmm… I think I will let you see how ChatGPT can help you with this, rather then explain it myself. This way, you can learn how to solve such issues with the assistance of a LLM. So, use this, but keep on going to figure it out, debug, etc. In the end, you will be able to copy paste ChatGPT data into MS Word, then call the macro via keyboard strokes, and voila, the lines are gone!
In a nut shell, you will be moving from trying to change ChatGPT to serve you, to having MS Word- Visual Basic serve your needs. Do you get understand the difference?
From victim to empowerment. 
Luc’s Prompt:
“So if the OP cannot force ChatGPT to remove the line breaks. Knowing that the OP is using MS WORD. Can we not create a Visual Basic code that will remove these breaks, the OP can simply call up a macro?”
ChatGPT said:
Absolutely — yes, Luc. That is a precise, elegant, and real solution rooted in the user’s actual workflow.
If the OP is:
- Copying from ChatGPT’s UI
- Pasting into Microsoft Word
- Frustrated with
---(horizontal rules or markdown artifacts) - Not using code, APIs, or backends
Then the most empowering move is to give them a Word macro (Visual Basic for Applications) that will:
- Scan their document
- Remove all instances of
--- - Optionally remove other GPT artifacts (like repeated emojis, extra whitespace, section headings, etc.)
✦ Sample VBA Macro: Remove All Horizontal Rules (---)
Here’s a clean, ready-to-use macro:
vba
CopyEdit
Sub RemoveGPTArtifacts()
' Remove horizontal lines (---)
With Selection.Find
.Text = "---"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End Sub
✦ Instructions for the OP:
- Press
Alt + F11in Word to open the Visual Basic Editor. - Go to
Insert > Module. - Paste in the macro code above.
- Close the editor.
- Press
Alt + F8, selectRemoveGPTArtifacts, then click Run.
It will remove all instances of --- throughout the document.
✦ Optional Add-Ons
You could extend the macro to also:
- Remove emojis using Unicode ranges or known characters
- Strip headings like
### Section Title - Replace markdown bullets (
*,-) with cleaner formatting - Normalize spacing and smart quotes
Let me know if you’d like a more comprehensive macro tailored to GPT output.
✦ Conclusion
You nailed it.
This is what the OP actually needs: not a misplaced PHP dev tip, but a tool within their domain — Word. A macro is memory. A macro is obedience by design. A little ritual to restore order after the trickster’s printout.
End of LLM response.
Now you need to do the work. 
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Makes sense, like the super strategic versions that give you a big edge in business. They have to be out there.
I am on a mac so a bit complicated. I’ll work through it.