Can't see the selected text

Question

Can't see the selected text

OAKKAR AUNG 25

hello, I have done all the repairing and uninstall and reinstall things. but now I realized that the problem isn't that the text is not selecting , rather It is selecting but NOT BEING VISIBLE . I meant I can clearly see the first line selected and as soon as i dragged the next line , it is not visible. BUT it is selected, I can test it by backspace deleting, and it got deleted. SO THE MAIN PROBLEM is that I cannot see what I'm selecting NOT MORE THAN ONE LINE. Help!! any suggestions?. Thanks for advance.

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Answer accepted by question author

AI answer

The described behavior matches a known display issue in Word 2024 where multi‑line selections are actually selected but only one line appears highlighted.

From a reported and resolved case, the issue was caused by a specific AMD graphics driver version. The resolution was:

Uninstall the AMD Adrenalin Edition software version 26.2.2 for Windows 11.
Use AMD’s cleanup/cleaning utility to fully remove the driver/software.
Install AMD Adrenalin Edition version 26.2.1 instead.

After rolling back to 26.2.1, the selection highlight for multiple lines in Word became visible again.

If the same AMD driver version is installed, rolling back to 26.2.1 using AMD’s tools is the recommended fix.

References:

Selection in Word 2024 doesn't select the whole text, only one line - Microsoft Q&A

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Answer recommended by moderator

OAKKAR AUNG 25

hi everyone, It is working now. The solution is just UNINSTALL the AMD driver by using AMD cleanup utility which can be downloaded. (just search it on the web) . After that you will click the downloaded exe and reboot the system. And that's it. Word just woking fine now. I can see all the selected text.

Thanks for the AI's answer tho :3

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2 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

I had the same issue in Microsoft Word and have now found what was causing it on my system.

The text was actually being selected correctly, but the selection highlight was not displayed correctly on the monitor. When selecting multiple lines of text with the mouse, only the first line (or part of it) appeared highlighted. However, the entire selected text could still be copied with Ctrl+C, formatted, deleted, etc. Ctrl+A also selected the entire document correctly, even though the selection was not visually displayed.

Interestingly, when I recorded the problem using Windows Snipping Tool screen recording, the full selection highlight was visible in the recorded video, although I could not see it on the monitor while making the selection. This indicated that the selection itself was working and that the problem was related to rendering/display rather than mouse input or Word's selection functionality.

I also tested Word in Safe Mode, but the problem remained, so disabling Word add-ins did not resolve it. Enabling Windows Mouse ClickLock also made no difference.

The issue was resolved by disabling “10-Bit Pixel Format” in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition and restarting Windows. After the restart, text selection highlighting in Word immediately worked normally again.

Importantly, disabling AMD's “10-Bit Pixel Format” does not require disabling 10-bit output to the monitor. My AMD Display settings still show Color Depth: 10 bpc and RGB 4:4:4 Pixel Format PC Standard (Full RGB), and Word selection highlighting now works correctly.

I also tested with Windows HDR disabled, and Word continues to work correctly. Therefore, in my case the relevant setting appears to be AMD's 10-Bit Pixel Format, not the monitor's 10 bpc color depth or Windows HDR.

System configuration:

Windows 11 Pro 25H2, OS Build 26200.8875
Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 MSO, Version 2607 (Build 16.0.20228.20124), 64-bit
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.7.1
Display connection: DisplayPort
Color Depth: 10 bpc
Pixel Format: RGB 4:4:4 Pixel Format PC Standard (Full RGB)
Windows HDR: Off
AMD “10-Bit Pixel Format”: Disabled

The issue had been present on this PC for approximately a year, so it does not appear to be specific to AMD Software 26.7.1. I had used multiple AMD driver versions during that period, although I did not test Word after every individual driver update.

Hopefully this helps others experiencing the same problem, especially since disabling the separate AMD 10-Bit Pixel Format option still allows the display output itself to remain at 10 bpc.

Answer 2

Hi, OAKKAR AUNG

This sounds more like a Word display/rendering problem than a true selection problem. The text is still being selected, but Word is not showing the highlight properly on screen.

Here are some suggestions you can try:

In Word, switch the document view to Print Layout or another view and test again. It is suggested that changing the view can bring the multi-line highlight back.

In Word Options, turn off hardware graphics acceleration and reopen Word. That is recommended when the selection works but the visual highlight does not render correctly.

You can change the Office theme to Black or Dark Gray as a quick test. The selection might become visible again after switching themes.

Check Windows display settings too: make sure High Contrast is off, scaling is at 100%, and the screen is using its recommended resolution. Theme and display settings can make text harder to see.

If none of that helps, send it through Help > Feedback > Report a problem in Word so it reaches the Word team directly.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you.

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