How to expand text boundaries in Word 2013?

Anonymous
2012-11-30T16:32:09+00:00

Hello everyone!,

I was convinced by someone here to install office 2013, so I tried it today. But the first issue i meet is the "text boundaries".

In office 2010 and previous versions. When I open a blank page, I can see the text boundary is around page (reach the margin that I set up manually.)

But in Word 2013, the text boundary is only around the first line. and it expand continuously as I type (line by line).

So, what I can do to make the default boundary display like in previous Office versions?

...

oh yea, I got another problem, LOL,

I am trying to save the picture and upload, but when i click Save as in Paint, Snipping tool.. the app immediately crash LOL :))

Okay, I will add photo later (in case you are not fully understand my expression).

anyway, although my english is not really well, please help me. :)

Thanks so much !

Thinh

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2012-12-01T14:13:25+00:00

Unfortunately, that is the default view of text boundaries in Word 2013 (and cannot be changed AFAIK), which is one reason I will not be using Word 2013, as I refuse to either deal with that display or try to operate without text boundaries displayed. This is another instance of Word designers not understanding how people in the real world use Word.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-13T11:18:21+00:00

    Hi, Suzanne. I just finished days of Tier 2 support sessions on this text boundaries business (is it a bug, or a feature?). Finally, the developers/design team told us that it's a feature--at the request of users! When I asked them to show me an MS forum/blog showing those requests, they refused/couldn't come up with one ("only for developers"). The solution is clear:

    1. Change Save As to the .DOC format (2003 Compatibility Mode)
    2. Change margins, etc. to be what you want as your default New document format.
    3. Right-click on the Normal template, click on Update to match selection.

    From now on, all your documents will show the real text boundaries. And if you want at any time to check whether you're losing out on any DOCX features, then do the following:

    1. Go to: File | Inspect Document | Check Compatibility, and the chances are that your use of Compatibility Mode isn't depriving you of any "new" features.

    Thanks so much for MS developers, who can't distinguish between a feature and a bug....

    Can get to step 2 okay, text margibs show.

    But can't find how to do step3?

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Where is the Normal template that you right click on in order to "Update selection"

    I can't even find the Normal template using Search on C drive.

    This whole Word 13 is a disaster so far. Very close to going back to Word 10

    Appreciate any help

    Ernest Dunwoody

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  2. Stefan Blom 352.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-08-11T07:45:14+00:00

    I edited the hyperlink in some other posts that I found (but you have probably covered the rest). :-)

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  3. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-08-10T22:02:13+00:00

    In this case, your last paragraph is correct.

    Go to http://word.uservoice.com/forums/304924-word-for-windows-desktop-application/suggestions/9253599-bring-back-classic-text-boundaries

    and vote for a return of the classic text boundaries.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-08-10T21:40:00+00:00

    I have been getting this quite a lot with 'IT' support recently, you report an error that is causing you a genuine problem and you get a response about something that does work and is nothing at all to do with the problem you are having.

    Unfortunately using Microsoft Help to look up 'Text Boundaries' in Word will probably return detailed tutorials on how to write speeches on rebuilding countries in PowerPoint.

    If Microsoft have the need to add a new feature like dotted boxes around every line you would think that it would be an additional option, not a replacement for a completely different tool. The Marketers at Microsoft could then see how popular this feature was amongst adult users, before deciding to change it.

    Somehow Microsoft have come up with a tool which many depend on and sometimes I don't think Microsoft developers appreciate this fact.

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