Red and green boxes appear in word document

Question

Red and green boxes appear in word document

Danielle Conover 20

When I open a word document (template contract) that I have used multiple times, there are random red and green boxes within the document that I can't seem to remove. Track changes is NOT on. Now when I open other word documents, the boxes appear as well and it is only happening on my computer, not other coworker's computers.

Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-08T20:37:27.52+00:00

When I open a word document (template contract)

In talking about Word, "template" is jargon* for a special kind of file, .dotx or .dotm from which new documents are created. Here is my page about Templates in Microsoft Word.

You almost certainly want to save your contract form as a .dotx or .dotm file.

*General English usage would allow a document to be a template, but not Word jargon. In talking about such a document I might call it a pattern document or form.

Answer accepted by question author and recommended by moderator

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Your answer

Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-08T20:37:27.52+00:00

When I open a word document (template contract)

In talking about Word, "template" is jargon* for a special kind of file, .dotx or .dotm from which new documents are created. Here is my page about Templates in Microsoft Word.

You almost certainly want to save your contract form as a .dotx or .dotm file.

*General English usage would allow a document to be a template, but not Word jargon. In talking about such a document I might call it a pattern document or form.

Answer 1

Charles Kenyon 170.8K Volunteer Moderator

I take it that these boxes do not print.

From here, I can't tell you what is happening but I can tell you to not worry about it since they do not appear on other computers.
I recognize that they are distracting and annoying. I am happy to try to assist you in getting rid of them.

Can you attach a screenshot showing what you are seeing? Try pasting it into a comment.

Are you using the desktop application Word?

Text boundaries would be my first guess but they would not be colored. https://addbalance.com/word/textBoundaries.htm#PageStart

Edit for responses:

I don't have DropBox, but I have Box. Will this link work for you? https://vastyancoloradollc.box.com/s/jlz2xwnbf9mhr1hhzyat4ueeyfyvnptz

Yes, this helps.

Shift+F1 reveals formatting. (Fn+Shift+F1 on many computers) https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/basic_formatting.htm#RevealCodes

The text is marked as hidden, which is why others are not seeing it. This is a very poor use of hidden text. Take a look at Content Controls.

The red and green boxes have direct formatting of red and green paragraph borders. See this screenshot:

User's image

References:

Reveal Formatting https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/basic_formatting_2007.htm#RevealCodes
Creating Forms in Microsoft Word https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/forms.htm
Create a Form With Content Controls https://gregmaxey.com/word_tip_pages/content_control_fillin_form.html
Basic Concepts of Microsoft Word by Shauna Kelly https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/BasicConceptsWord.htm

To get rid of these, select everything in the box and press Ctrl+Spacebar.

Danielle Conover 20 Reputation points

2026-08-07T16:23:21.2733333+00:00

they do show up when I PDF the document for signature - so that is a problem
Danielle Conover 20 Reputation points

2026-08-07T16:25:59.8833333+00:00

Yes, I am using the Desktop App, I turned off text boundaries and it still shows up.
Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-07T16:44:35.2533333+00:00

This may be in the style of an intervening blank paragraph. Could you please save a sample document with the problem, both red and green boxes, on OneDrive or DropBox and post a share link here?

Redact any confidential or proprietary information from the document.
Danielle Conover 20 Reputation points

2026-08-07T17:29:05.65+00:00

I don't have DropBox, but I have Box. Will this link work for you? https://vastyancoloradollc.box.com/s/jlz2xwnbf9mhr1hhzyat4ueeyfyvnptz I don't have enough storage on OneDrive, so that doesn't work either. Sorry.
Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-07T23:33:48.2433333+00:00

Yes it helped.

Shift+F1 reveals formatting. Use it. (Fn+Shift+F1 on many computers)

See my edited answer (to make it easier for others to find).