Word for Mac WordArt transforms wrap text onto multiple lines instead of forming a circle. Need an engineer!

Question

Word for Mac WordArt transforms wrap text onto multiple lines instead of forming a circle. Need an engineer!

poetliz 40

Help! I am finishing off a book, which is a book containing a lot of shaped text boxes, and suddenly, all my Word files are not displaying any text box containing a circle or arch properly. What is more, I cannot put text in a text box or a word art box into a circle. This is a disaster as the book is going to print soon and I need to make PDFs of the Word files.

I am using Word for Mac 16.112.1 on macOS Sequoia 15.6.1. Both Circle and Arch WordArt transforms wrap text onto multiple lines instead of forming a circle.

Has anyone else got this problem? I have explained it to the AI, and also to a person at Microsoft, who says it is nothing I am doing incorrectly (I know! I've used this feature for years!) and that points to a fault in how Word is handling the text path rather than an issue with the transform command itself. So engineers need to look at it and how does one get that message to them? Apparently by telling them here HELP!

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.7K

@Stefan Blom Thanks for the call-out, Stefan. I'm not sure how much I can help, though. For graphic design I've always used PhotoShop or InDesign. If one of the documents is made available I'll certainly take a look.

@poetliz The first issue I see is that your cited version of Sequoia [15.6.1] is significantly out of date & predates the version of Word you're using. The present release of Sequoia is 15.7.9 which very well may have an impact on graphic rendering. It's pointless to trouble shoot further unless the iss persist after all is current.

poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T09:16:16.8733333+00:00

Oooh - thank you - I have used illustrator some things, but amazingly, it is not as easy, or as versatile as Word transform can be. And it is mixed with text so the two versions of even the same font, then assembled together, can be jarring, so it's best to use the Word version of transform. but I did 't know about these updates - I have tried to update but it said no update was available - I will do that now and get back to you!
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T10:02:16.16+00:00

Ok, I updated to Tahoe and it is still doing it, sadly.
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T12:05:11.4433333+00:00

hmm well I tried to add pictures but the quality was too good - how do I send you a photo/photos? I could i suppose put them on my website and provide a photo of that... as it should be on the right!
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T12:06:29.57+00:00

Here it is
Charles Kenyon 170.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-25T13:35:51.7933333+00:00

@poetliz

I tried to add pictures but the quality was too good - how do I send you a photo/photos?

Not photos. Not screenshots.

Word document with the problem. Save to OneDrive or DropBox and post a share link here.
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T15:25:05.9966667+00:00
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-25T15:25:50.31+00:00

Has that posted for everyone? I don't have dropbox, or one drive.
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-26T20:51:00.1366667+00:00

Hello! Does this work - it is an icloud link. I have removed as problem now ok!
Charles Kenyon 170.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-27T21:03:22.4933333+00:00

@poetliz

I tried to add pictures but the quality was too good - how do I send you a photo/photos?

Not photos. Not screenshots.

Word document with the problem. Save to OneDrive or DropBox and post a share link here.
https://addbalance.com/articles/Why%20a%20sample%20file%20is%20important%20for%20troubleshooting.%20How%20to%20do%20it.htm
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-28T12:42:03.4066667+00:00

@Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP I have added a link to a similar thing to dropbox on apple, I hope that works for you, as I still have a book deadline and Word not working! Thank you for any help you can give. Or a way to tell microsoft - as their advice chat was to post here - the help feature just gave me ways to make and arch or a circle in a text or art text box which of course I know. It was useless at reporting a problem, it wouldn't let me.
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-28T12:47:24.3766667+00:00

@Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP Don't worry! I just checked again in despair and it's back! They heard somehow, I am SO relieved, thank you all for help!

Answer 2

Stefan Blom 351.3K MVP Volunteer Moderator

all my Word files are not displaying any text box containing a circle or arch properly

Do you see text boxes and other drawing objects in the preview at File > Print? Have you double-checked the options for displaying and printing images and drawings in Word Preferences?

One thing you can try, if you observe the problem in only some documents, is to copy document content, minus the final paragraph mark (use Command+A followed by Shift+Left arrow), into a new, blank document (Command+N).

poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-24T18:27:25.6233333+00:00

I have sent the files with a corresponding PDF showing how it should appear to both my children, one on mac, the other on PC - both said the Word file did not display properly. All files without arches or circles are displaying perfectly. But ALL files with arcs or circles are not displaying. It's a very specific issue. I have tried copy and pasting into another word doc and the problem persists, it is the same on a new doc, I cannot make a new shape file with a circle of text, once it gets over a certain length the text goes onto multiple lines. All my historic docs made years ago, last month, today, all are not displaying.
Stefan Blom 351.3K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-24T18:34:38.93+00:00

Thanks for the follow-up. You can report this to Microsoft by using the Help > Feedback facility in Word.

I wonder if long time users of Word for Mac such as @Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP will be able to shed some further light on this.
poetliz 40 Reputation points

2026-08-24T19:38:17.97+00:00

Thank you, Stefan - I hope the person I was on the phone with for a couple of hours has mentioned it, I tried the 'help' report thing but all it did is give me a list of ways to make shapes transform in text boxes, which is knowledge I already have! Nothing about what to do if this does not work...