Word 2016 Paragraph Indent Problems

Anonymous
2015-12-27T18:52:48+00:00

I've been experiencing a problem in Word documents since the upgrade to '16 a few weeks ago. My paragraphs keep randomly un-indenting, or indenting double. I'll fix all the problems, save the document and next time I open it, there's random indent again. Sometimes it's the same place, sometimes it is in a different location. Sometimes it even happens while I'm working in an open document! I've tried taking out all the formatting and starting over, I've tried resetting the paragraph parameters...nothing seems to help. 

Any ideas on a fix? This problem is not only distracting, but also very frustrating because I'm not getting any real work done! It's driving me nuts! 

Thanks for any help or suggestions. Appreciate it!

Beth

UPDATE 1/14: I received a reply from Doug after I sent my diagnostic file to be reviewed by a Microsoft team:

I have received information from the Word Product Team that they have identified the cause of the issue and are presently validating a fix for it.

In the meantime, it appears that toggling the display of “non-printing” characters by the use of the Show\Hide (¶) button on the home tab of the ribbon, causes the screen to be re-painted which will cause the indents to re-appear.  However, the issue *will* return again following subsequent edits, so it will be necessary to toggle the show\hide every now and then.

Apparently, it is a display only issue and printing should produce the document laid out correctly with the indents in place.

So at least we know now what the issue is, hopefully a fix will not take that long. I see down the thread that Justin has reverted to '13 with no major issues, so that could be a good solution for those of you in need of proper paragraphs yesterday. Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions and best of luck!

Beth

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2016-01-27T20:26:16+00:00

Hi everyone. We just released a new update that should resolve the following formatting/selection issues:

  • Sections that should be indented, are not indented
  • Tabs no longer display correctly
  • Strange pieces of characters are left on the screen
  • Selection range is incorrect, (Word doesn't select the text you choose)
  • Bullet and Number Lists don't display correctly

For more information, see: FIXED 1/26/16: Word 2016 doesn't display your document formatting correctly when you edit a document in progress.

Please try it out and let us know if you run into any trouble.

Thank you.

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Anonymous
2016-01-23T19:11:44+00:00

Yes, these all sound like part and parcel of the same bug. The symptoms are:

  • Sections that should be indented, are not indented
  • Tabs no longer display correctly
  • Strange pieces of characters are left on the screen (i.e., the screen painting issue)
  • Selection range is incorrect, (Word doesn't select the text you choose)
  • Bullet and Number Lists don't display correctly

The good news is that the fix for the bug has already gone out to our Office Insider audience, which means that it should roll out to the rest of you soon. Here's a bit more info about how the Office 365 updates work: How do I get the newest features in Office 2016 for Office 365?

I also want to take a moment to say that we appreciate each of you reporting your issues and working with us to resolve these bugs. We are listening closely.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-01-08T04:49:00+00:00

    The symptoms point to the display (screen rendering).

    The following are some steps provided by fellow MVP Jay Freedman in another thread to try to fix that. Try them one at a time and restart Word each time to see whether the problem has stopped.

    • If you haven't rebooted the computer for a long time (sleep/hibernation don't count!), try that first.
    • Go to File > Options > Advanced, scroll down to the Display section, and check the box for "Disable hardware graphics acceleration".
    • Right-click a blank spot on the desktop and click Display Settings. In the dialog, click Advanced display settings at the bottom. Make sure the resolution is set to the native resolution of your monitor (assuming it's an LED or LCD).
      • While you're on that page, click Display adapter properties. In the dialog that opens, on the Adapter tab, click Properties. In the next dialog, go to the Driver tab and make a note of the video card manufacturer, the driver provider, and the driver version. Then use your browser to visit the web site of the manufacturer to see whether there is a later update of the driver (for the specific model of the card and whether you have 32-bit or 64-bit Windows). Note: Don't click the Update Driver button in this dialog.
      • On the Monitor tab of the first dialog, click the Properties button. Again, note the driver provider and version, and look for an update.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-08T01:19:09+00:00

    Here is link to three files I uploaded to OneDrive. One is a Word 2016 document containing a simple outline.  I set up a separate paragraph format for each level of the outline.  The other two files are screen clippings.  One shows an example of the format distortions that randomly and frequently occur.  The other file is a clipping of the correct format.

    Thanks for any help you can offer.

    ST

    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=280C9C5494572F69!55086&authkey=!AIyD1kKtQ-DlL-o&ithint=folder%2c

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  3. Stefan Blom 352.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-01-07T15:32:18+00:00

    Can you share an example document that illustrates the problem? Of course, you should remove any sensitive information first.

    Note that the underlying cause may be the video card on your system, unless you see the problem also in Print Preview and on printouts.

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