Word TAB INDICATOR missing

Anonymous
2014-05-14T08:16:58+00:00

The TAB INDICATOR now shows only as a blank icon and no tabs show on the ruler. My tab indicator and tabs were fine until recently. Running Word 2013 on Win 8. How can I fix this, please?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Jay Freedman 208.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2014-08-21T21:24:31+00:00

The fix for this bug has been released as KB2883058 as part of the August 2014 updates. If you have Office 365, the fix will be included in the August automatic updates; otherwise it will appear in the August Patch Tuesday downloads in Windows Update or can be obtained from the link above.

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Answer accepted by question author
Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2014-07-27T16:27:39+00:00

There is an issue causing tab stops and indent indicators to disappear from the ruler in Word 2013. The problem is being investigated by the Office team, and a fix is expected. Meanwhile, the following are workarounds recommended by Microsoft:

  • Start Word first, with a blank document, and then open the document you are going to read or edit.​
  • Avoid having a table as the first item in a document (at present it appears that this is the cause of the problem).

While other procedures may clear the problem temporarily, none is a permanent fix, and they do not address the underlying problem issue.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-28T12:03:07+00:00

    Jay:

    Your explanation is perfect.

    I commend you for your quick responses and ability to communicate needed information to Microsoft customers. You are the best Community Moderator I have dealt with on several of these forums. I thank you for your excellent service.

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  2. Jay Freedman 208.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-08-27T20:41:36+00:00

    The download from the KB article applies only to editions of Office that are installed from an MSI file, usually on a CD. For Office 2013 that includes only a very small fraction of Office installations, mostly those from Volume (corporate) licenses and those from MSDN subscriptions. All others, those that use the Click-to-Run installation method, get automatic updates.

    I should have included more explanation in my previous post -- Office 365 is not the only installation that gets automatic updates and doesn't use the download from the KB article.

    If you open any of the Office programs and click File > Account, do you see "Office Updates" on the right side? If so, the version number below that should currently be 15.0.4641.1002. That's the version number for the August 2014 updates, which include the same fix as in the KB article. If the third group of numbers is lower than 4641, click the Update Options button and choose Update Now.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-27T19:55:57+00:00

    Jay:

    I went to KB2883058 web site shown above, read the information in the article and downloaded the 32 version of the WORD update. I have Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 32 bit version. I do not have the RT version. When I download the 32 bit version shown in the article, the installation process started and then informed me that there there is no product on my computer matching the download specifications.  Do you have any advice why the fix is not working for the regular Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013?

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