Troubleshoot document views and screen displays

Some of the content in this topic may not be applicable to some languages.

Dots appear between words on the screen.

The dots between words represent spaces and will not be printed. To turn off the display of dots and other formatting marks, click Show/Hide .

If dots still appear, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the View tab. Under Formatting marks, clear the Spaces check box.

I see underlines in my document.

If text on your screen is underlined, but you didn't apply underline formatting to it, it could appear as underlined for any of the following reasons.

Red or green wavy underlines: When you automatically check spelling and grammar, Microsoft Word uses wavy red underlines to indicate possible spelling errors and wavy green underlines to indicate possible grammatical errors.
Red wavy underlines in an e-mail header: Word automatically checks the names in the e-mail header against names in the Address Book. If multiple names are found that match the name you type, a red wavy line appears under the name. You can choose a replacement for each unrecognized name.
Blue wavy underlines: Word uses wavy blue underlines to indicate possible instances of inconsistent formatting.
Blue or other color underlines: Hyperlink display text is blue and underlined by default.
Purple or other color underlines: Followed hyperlinks appear as purple and underlined by default.
Red or other color single or double underlines (vertical bars may also appear in the left or right margin): By default, newly inserted text is marked as underlined when the Track Changes feature is used. Vertical bars ù called changed lines ù may also appear in the left or right border of text that contains tracked changes.
Purple dotted underlines: Smart tags appear with purple dotted underlines beneath text. You can use smart tags to perform actions in Word that you'd normally open other programs to do.

I want to use a menu or a toolbar in Full Screen view.

If you want to choose menu commands in full-screen mode, rest the pointer at the top of the screen, and the menu bar appears. For example, you might want to set options on the View tab (Tools menu, Options command) to specify which screen elements to display in full-screen mode.

I can't turn off Full Screen view.

To turn off full-screen mode and switch to the previous view, click Close Full Screen on the Full Screen toolbar, or press ESC.

I see items in the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

The status bar, which is a horizontal area at the bottom of the document window in Microsoft Word, provides information about the current state of what you are viewing in the window and any other contextual information.

To display the status bar, click Options on the Tools menu, click the View tab, and then select the Status bar check box under Show.

Page number

Shows the page number.

Section number

Shows the section number of the page shown in the window.

Number/number

Shows the page number and the total number of pages based on the physical page count in the document.

At

Shows the distance from the top of the page to your insertion point. No measurement is displayed if the insertion point is not in the window.

Ln

Shows the line of text where the insertion point is located. No measurement is displayed if the insertion point is not in the window.

Col

Shows the distance, in number of characters, from the left margin to the insertion point. No measurement is displayed if the insertion point is not in the window.

REC

Shows the macro recorder status. Double-click REC to turn the macro recorder on or off. When the recorder is off, REC appears dimmed.

TRK

Shows the track changes status. Double-click TRK to turn the Track Changes feature on or off. When changes are not being tracked, TRK appears dimmed.

EXT

Shows the extend selection mode status. Double-click EXT to turn the mode on or off. When selection mode is off, EXT appears dimmed.

OVR

Shows the overtype mode status. Double-click OVR to turn the mode on or off. When overtype mode is off, OVR appears dimmed.

Language

Shows the language at the insertion point. Double-click to change the language format of selected text.

Shows the spelling and grammar checking status. When Word is in the process of checking for errors, an animated pen appears over the book. If no errors are found, a check mark appears. If an error is found, an "X" appears. To resolve the error, double-click this icon.

When the spelling and grammar checker options are turned off, the grammar checker continues to run to recognize smart tags.

If you want the spelling and grammar checker to be turned off, you also need to turn off smart tags.

On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the Smart Tags tab.
Clear the Label text with smart tags check box.

Shows the background save status. When a pulsating disk icon appears, Word is saving your document in the background as you work.

Shows the background print status. When a printer icon appears, Word is printing your document in the background as you work. A number next to the printer icon shows the current page number being printed. To cancel the print job, double-click the printer icon.

Some of the items on the status bar are missing or empty.

Where the insertion point is in the document and the document view can affect what you see in the status bar. Try switching to another document view and moving the insertion point.

My document is too wide to fit on the screen.

You can "rewrap" the text (that is, readjust the line lengths) so that it fits within the document window. If you're currently working in normal view or print layout view, you can rewrap the text by clicking Options on the Tools menu, clicking the View tab, and then selecting the Wrap to window check box.
To shrink the text so that it fits within the document window in normal view or print layout view, click Zoom on the View menu, and then select Page width.

Notes

To have Microsoft Word automatically rewrap the text, switch to Web layout view.
Keep in mind that changing the document's appearance on the screen won't affect its appearance on a printed document.

I can't find online layout view.

Online layout view has been replaced by Web layout view. In Web layout view, Microsoft Word optimizes your Web page so that you can see how it will look when you publish it to the Web or an intranet. In Web layout view, you can see backgrounds, AutoShapes, and other effects that are commonly used in Web documents or documents that you view on the screen.

Page borders do not appear.

Switch to print layout view or print preview to see page borders. Page borders do not appear in Web layout view, normal view, outline view, Document Map, or Full Screen view.
If you are viewing your document in print layout view, top and bottom page borders will disappear if the White space between pages option is turned off. Move the insertion point to the top or bottom of the page and click the Show White Space button.

I cannot see the split box.

Split box

The split box is located at the top of the vertical scroll bar. If the split box is not available, the Document Map might be open or the vertical scroll bar might be turned off. To use the split box, close the Document Map (View menu) or turn on the vertical scroll bar (Tools menu, Options, View tab).

I can't turn on or off master document view.

Master document view is combined with outline view in Word 2000 and 2002 In Microsoft Word 2000 and 2002, you use outline view instead of master document view to work with a master document and subdocuments. To create or change a master document, click Outline on the View menu.

To view the entire master document, click Normal or Print Layout on the View menu.
The document might be protected When a document is protected, the Outline command (View menu) might not be available, so you cannot use the Outlining toolbar to work with master documents and subdocuments.