text underlined in blue

Anonymous
2010-04-01T22:44:55+00:00

When I transfer Word document, a blue line appears under all the text. What causes this?

Mal

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-04-19T14:27:11+00:00

If you're seeing a blue underline after you change your text formatting then the option to mark formatting inconsistencies enabled. It’s like spell check for styles. If you have formatting in your document that matches a style then Word will flag it. To turn this option off:

  1. Click the Office Button
  2. Click Word Options (below your Recently Used File List)
  3. On the Advanced tab, deselect the option named Mark Formatting Inconsistencies

~Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP

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Anonymous
2010-04-18T22:54:35+00:00

Hi again Mal,

As promised, here are the instructions to locate, backup and delete your Word Data registry key:

  1.  Exit all Office programs

2.  Click on Start 

  1.  Type regedit in the Search box

4.  Press Enter

This will take you to the Registry Editor window and you will need to locate the Data folder for Word 2007

1.  From the Registry Editor window click on each of these in turn to get to the correct Data file:

     *** Please be sure to follow this path exactly as described ***   

    You may need to double click to open each folder in order to get at the next folder in the list:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER (this should be at the top of the list in the Registry Editor window)

    Software

    Microsoft

    Office

    12.0

    Word

    Data

    When you get as far as the Data folder:

2.  Click on the File menu

3.  Click on Export

  1.  Name the file Wddata.reg

5.  Save the file to your Desktop.

Then:

6.  Click on the Edit menu

7.  Click on Delete

8.  Click on Yes at the prompt

9.  Exit the Registry Editor

  1. Start Word (a new Data key will be built automatically).

If the problem has gone away then it was due to a damaged Word Data registry key. Some of your settings may have been wiped out and you may need to reset them.

Let me know how you get on? 

All the best,

Sharon

Sharon Roffey

Queensland, Australia

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Anonymous
2010-04-10T23:59:25+00:00

Good morning Mal,

(If that applies where you are ... which time zone are you in by the way?)

If the Microsoft Works icon appears in the top left corner then it looks a though your documents are still associated with Works. I imagine this doesn't change with an uninstall so now we need to do a manual association so that Word recognizes them.

Right now the most important ones for you are the following:

.doc

.dochtml

.docm

.docx

.docxml

.dot

.dothtml

.dotm

.dotx

These are the files that you want Word to recognize.

So, this is what you now need to do:

1. Click on each one of the above in turn

2. Click on the Change program button

3. Click on the Microsoft Office Word icon under Recommended programs

  1. Click on OK

So, hope that does it for you.

Let me know how you get on.

BTW. Just as a "heads up", do you use other Office application e.g. Excel or PowerPoint? If so, at some point later on you may need to do some similar manual associations. The files will be easy to identify by locating Microsoft Works in the list and changing to Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, as applicable.

Best,

Sharon

Sharon Roffey

Queensland, Australia

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-04-20T07:27:11+00:00

    Upon re-reading the this thread, each time you deleted the Word Data key it should set various Word options back to the factory defaults. One of the options stored in the Data key is the "Mark formatting inconsistencies" option and it’s not selected by default. If after de-selecting the option you find it becomes selected again then the likely cause is an add-in.

    If you’re not familiar with add-ins, third-parties create add-ins to add additional functionality in Word, for example Adobe has a PDF maker add-in, some printer manufacturers might create an add-in so the user can modify various print options from the application, etc. Unfortunately, there are a large number of add-ins that t don’t honor you preferred settings and keep turning various options back on (or off) each time you start Word. Should the issue arise again the next step is to track down the offending add-in and disable it. The best way to start this process is to find your active add-ins, click the Office Button, click Word Options, and on the Add-ins tab, provide us a list of the add-ins you see under Active Application Add-ins and we’ll provide instructions for how to disable them along with a "best guess" as to which one could be causing the issue if there are several.

    ~Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP

    Hi Beth,

    Thanks for stepping in. I was very interested in your latest thoughts concerning add-ins. As you will see, half way through this process we discovered that Mal had Microsoft Works installed as well as Office 2007 and the file associations were with the Works Suite. We got rid of that with an uninstall of Works but your latest post set me on the alert, I am wondering if the rogue "Mark formatting inconsistencies" setting got left behind even after the Works uninstall? Or even if there are some remnants of add-ins still present from the Works installation.

    I'm just thinking out loud here to keep the thread alive in case Mal comes back.

    All the best,

    Sharon

    Sharon Roffey

    Queensland, Australia

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-04-20T16:31:38+00:00

    I'm not certain but I think MS Works still utilizes an add-in to integrate Works functionality in Word and Excel. I know older versions did but it's been a few years since I've encountered the more recent versions. I also know uninstalling MS Works may not remove the add-ins and they are left behind. Again, this occurred in previous versions and I'm not 100% certain if this still occurs which is why I asked Mal to provide a list of add-ins if the issue continues. :-)

    But there are also numerous add-ins that exhibit this behavior. The underlying cause is the creator uses the Macro Recorder to select/deselect a specific option their add-in needs in the Options dialog box. Prior to Word 2007, every single option and its current state is also recorded. The unfortunately result is every time Word starts you end up with the add-in creator's preferences, not your own. There's quite a long list of those that aren't 'neighborly' but the old Works Suite add-in for Word was definitely one of them and if MS Works still uses such an add-in that would be my first "best guess".

    ~Beth Melton Microsoft Office MVP

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