Dealing with fragmented paragraphs after a .docx import

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 03:52 PM

It's been a while since I worked with Sigil and in the past I was able to use search and replace to deal with:

system to overcome the inherent disruptive tendencies of the

economic order. Others ascribe the conflict and confusion of the

by pasting:





into the search field.

This no longer works. (I also tried the regex rule: <\/p>\s+ to no avail.)

Any help / work arounds would be appreciated.

KevinH · 02-09-2026, 03:55 PM

You need to use regex and set the Regex flag to set DotAll true so that line ending new line chars are included.

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 04:00 PM

I checked the DotAll option and it is set.
Is my regex correct?

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 04:03 PM

I'm using version 2.7.0 on an M3 Mac Mini with os 26.3

Karellen · 02-09-2026, 04:16 PM

I would use...

Search - (\w) (\w)
Replace - \1 \2

Then you would need to run a second regex for the cases where punctuation precedes the tag.

KevinH · 02-09-2026, 04:22 PM

Yes what Karellen said should work or even simpler (but maybe not smarter) you could use:

Find: \s+
and replace it with a single blank character.

But again you would have to use Regex mode and DotAll checked.

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 06:09 PM

So, I'm finding other search/replace oddities. Could it be a problem with my particular system settings? Could I have a Python issue, or environment variable issues?

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 06:13 PM

Sadly, that didn't work.

Could I be having environment variable issues? (Or something along those lines?)

KevinH · 02-09-2026, 06:37 PM

In what way didn't it work? I copied and pasted exactly what you posted as a test case into a new empty xhtml file in Sigil.

Open Search and Replace and typed exactly the following into Find field:
\s+

Then typed a single space into the Replace field.

I then set the search mode to Regex and made sure that DotAll was checked. Then I made sure my cursor was at the top of the page (since searching down) and hit the find button, then hit the replace button, and it properly merged your test-case paragraphs.

So either your test case is not representative of the actual code or something else is off.

It has nothing to do with environment vars or python as search uses neither.

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 06:44 PM

I moved the epub file to a windows machine and installed the latest Sigil there.
voila - it works.

So I'm gonna blame Apple unless someone here has the same hardware I do and it works for them.

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 06:46 PM

Kevin - I just saw your post from 10:37 your time.

I don't know where to look as far as system settings on my machine.

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 06:57 PM

I've attached the file I'm working on.
Is there anything about it that could be gumming up the works?

KevinH · 02-09-2026, 07:13 PM

Works on both my Macs. There is no platform specific code in Sigil's Search and Replace.

MikeMaloney · 02-09-2026, 07:15 PM

I have a separate Python installation that I use. Could that be interfering with Sigil?

KevinH · 02-09-2026, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeMaloney

Kevin - I just saw your post from 10:37 your time.

I don't know where to look as far as system settings on my machine.

What system settings? I am talking about how to use Find and Replace in Sigil, not system settings.

02-09-2026, 03:52 PM	#1
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	Dealing with fragmented paragraphs after a .docx import It's been a while since I worked with Sigil and in the past I was able to use search and replace to deal with: <p>system to overcome the inherent disruptive tendencies of the</p> <p>economic order. Others ascribe the conflict and confusion of the</p> by pasting: </p> <p> into the search field. This no longer works. (I also tried the regex rule: <\/p>\s+<p> to no avail.) Any help / work arounds would be appreciated.

02-09-2026, 04:16 PM	#5
Karellen Wizard Posts: 1,765 Karma: 9501034 Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2	I would use... Search - (\w)</p> <p>(\w) Replace - \1 \2 Then you would need to run a second regex for the cases where punctuation precedes the </p> tag.

02-09-2026, 04:22 PM	#6
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 9,333 Karma: 6686152 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Yes what Karellen said should work or even simpler (but maybe not smarter) you could use: Find: </p>\s+<p> and replace it with a single blank character. But again you would have to use Regex mode and DotAll checked.

02-09-2026, 06:37 PM	#9
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 9,333 Karma: 6686152 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	In what way didn't it work? I copied and pasted exactly what you posted as a test case into a new empty xhtml file in Sigil. Open Search and Replace and typed exactly the following into Find field: </p>\s+<p> Then typed a single space into the Replace field. I then set the search mode to Regex and made sure that DotAll was checked. Then I made sure my cursor was at the top of the page (since searching down) and hit the find button, then hit the replace button, and it properly merged your test-case paragraphs. So either your test case is not representative of the actual code or something else is off. It has nothing to do with environment vars or python as search uses neither.

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02-09-2026, 03:55 PM	#2
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 9,333 Karma: 6686152 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	You need to use regex and set the Regex flag to set DotAll true so that line ending new line chars are included.

02-09-2026, 04:00 PM	#3
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	I checked the DotAll option and it is set. Is my regex correct?

02-09-2026, 04:03 PM	#4
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	I'm using version 2.7.0 on an M3 Mac Mini with os 26.3

02-09-2026, 06:09 PM	#7
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	So, I'm finding other search/replace oddities. Could it be a problem with my particular system settings? Could I have a Python issue, or environment variable issues?

02-09-2026, 06:13 PM	#8
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	Sadly, that didn't work. Could I be having environment variable issues? (Or something along those lines?)

02-09-2026, 06:44 PM	#10
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	I moved the epub file to a windows machine and installed the latest Sigil there. voila - it works. So I'm gonna blame Apple unless someone here has the same hardware I do and it works for them.

02-09-2026, 06:46 PM	#11
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	Kevin - I just saw your post from 10:37 your time. I don't know where to look as far as system settings on my machine.

02-09-2026, 07:13 PM	#13
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 9,333 Karma: 6686152 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Works on both my Macs. There is no platform specific code in Sigil's Search and Replace.

02-09-2026, 07:15 PM	#14
MikeMaloney Member Posts: 21 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: iBooks	I have a separate Python installation that I use. Could that be interfering with Sigil?