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

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments
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.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

46 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-06-06T20:16:35+00:00

    Hello Stefan, the remark of Brook Nusz applies to me ! I experienced the problem on a document which starts with a table...

    So it looks like, "if the first document that I open with Words, is normal text, then no problem. If the first document which is opened with Word starts with a table, then the tab marks are gone"

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2014-06-06T19:39:09+00:00

    I've been having this issue as well.  HP Desktop computer, Samsung monitors, Windows 8.1.

    It is sporadic.  I can be working on a document that is fine and then I go to change a tab and notice that they're no longer displayed.  I close everything in Word and reopen the document and the tabs are back.  Working on a different document, same thing happens.  Different documents, using different templates. 

    I do not have the 2880455 update installed.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2014-06-06T18:41:11+00:00

    Stefan:  I do not know if this will help, but I have found that if the first document I open when I open up Word is a document that has a table as the first thing on the page, I lose my tab indicators on that document and any document that I open up afterwords.  However, if when I open up Word I open up as the first document a document that does not have a table as the first thing on a page then I have my tab indicators and then I can open up other documents, regardless of where the table is and still have my tab indicators.  I am running Word 2013, version 15.0.4615.1002 and my operating system is Windows 8.1.  I hope that this helps and any help on fixing it would be greatly appreciated.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments