When Vanessa prints her document, the printout includes a text box with text in it. When she looks at the document on-screen, she can't see the text box or the text it contains. Vanessa wants to delete the text box and wonders, since she can't see the text box, how she can find it to get rid of it.
There are a few things you should try. First, make sure you know the page on which the text box is located. This is a simple determination—just look at the printout to see on which page it occurs. You should make note of any surrounding text or elements that can help you to narrow down where to look in the document itself.
Now, make sure you are viewing your document in Print Layout view. If you are viewing your document in some other view, then you won't be able to see some of your graphics, including text boxes.
If the text box is still not visible, then you should check to make sure that the display of drawings hasn't been turned off. Follow these steps:
Figure 1. The advanced options of the Excel Options dialog box.
Provided you are still viewing the document in Print Layout view, you should be able to see any text boxes. If you still can't see it, it could be possible that the text box is formatted for no line and no fill and that the text it contains is formatted as hidden (and you have the display of hidden text turned off). If you suspect this is the case, try these general steps:
When you release the mouse button, any objects on the page should be selected. You can then delete them by simply pressing the Delete key.
Word also includes a great way to see the objects in your document. Follow these steps:
If you are still having problems locating and getting rid of the text box, you can try a macro approach. The following macro will step through all the shapes defined in the document and delete them. This is a great approach if the offending text box is the only shape in your entire document.
Sub Remove_Boxes() Dim aShape As Shape For Each aShape In ActiveDocument.Shapes If aShape.Type = msoTextBox Then aShape.Delete End If Next End Sub
Finally, if the text box still appears on the printout, it could be that you aren't dealing with a text box at all. It could be that what you are seeing is actually a comment box that is configured to print but not display on the screen. You can use the Object Browser (discussed in other issues of WordTips) to easily step through any comments that may be in your document.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10074) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Finding an Invisible Text Box.
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2021-03-14 23:43:48
Mohammad
Hi Allen,
I am using office 2019. when I searching a word though the navigation (Ctrl+F), the list will pops up. however, list shows several text box text box which all are invisible.
I have tired all method you suggested but I was not able to detect and remove them.
is there any other way to detect/delete the hidden text box?
Thank you
2021-01-29 16:10:37
Malcolm Rowe
Hi Allen.
I have a slightly different issue. As a translator/proofreader, I am frequently sent OCR files where thee OCR system can't work out the logic behind why text is placed as it is on the page and just sticks some of the text into random text boxes (or possibly frames) with no outline. I prefer to rearrange this into the proper flow of the document, moving most of the text from its text boxes but it can be tricky to spot all of the instances. Is there a way to tell Word to show text box outlines in the same way that Table gridlines can be displayed?
2020-01-10 09:00:49
Jennifer Thomas
This was covered in a response from 'Susan' to an article about Object Browser (which was removed from Word after 2010), but it's relevant here.
To find text boxes and other objects, press Ctrl+G (go to), choose Graphics from the drop-down list and the click Next - it will jump to the next object and one of those is going to be your invisible text box. This is very quick and easy!
2020-01-10 08:39:22
Jens Holme Bjørneboe
I tend to use the Ctrl+A before going to more drastically measures. When marking ALL features in the document, hidden artworks and such are also shown as selected (grayed feature) and much more visible.
2019-09-05 06:20:55
Thanks Allen,
Was missing a text box for a good 20 minutes... article helped me to unclick a box and get it back appearing ;)
Thanks again,
Cian
2019-08-27 17:42:02
Allen
Gina,
Text boxes (like other objects) are anchored in the document, typically to a paragraph. Chances are good that the text box is anchored to one of the paragraphs you selected, so the anchor is selected, and, thus, the text box is selected.
You can see where the anchor is located by turning on the display of non-printing characters in your document. (Click the pilcrow character -- the backwards P -- on the Home tab of the ribbon.) Move the anchor so it is not associated with a paragraph you are selecting, and you will have a much easier time.
-Allen
2019-08-27 17:21:13
Gina Sharpe
Hi Allen! I have a question. When I select several lines in my WORD 2016 document, it automatically selects my text box too. I need to copy these several lines further down in my document, but I don't need the text box to be copied too.
Can you tell me why this happens and how to fix it so it doesn't happen going forward? I can send a sample if that would be helpful.
Thank you,
Gina
2018-08-09 12:43:17
Debbie
Hi Allen, I'm having an issue with a text box used as a border for images and other text boxes in a working word file. I am trying to select the the text box to change the border color bur cannot select it. I used the selection pane as you mentioned above. It lists all text boxes, shapes and pictures used, but the listed name "text box1" I'm trying to edit, is lighter in text color than the rest . Any suggestions on how to get to the box?
2018-08-04 07:15:48
Jason
THANK YOU! I have been trying for so long to get rid of a text box that was printing but not showing on screen. The macro worked beautifully.
2018-05-17 00:15:03
Sneha Akula
Thanks for the tips!
My captions were put in as separate text boxes and were somehow hidden, after going to selection pane I chose the selection to be on the top corner and I was able to delete them.
2017-08-09 08:02:35
Shlomit
Hello,
I read this tip, but was not able to do the selection of all the text boxes which has no fill & line.
I don't want to delete them, only to see that they exists but it only shows me the one in which my cursor is in it.
I'm unable to select or to see multiple text boxes in one page and/or at all the document.
thank you very much
Shlomit
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