I’ve had a Microsoft 365 Family subscription for years. I have installed and used Microsoft Word on my laptop all that time. When I previously opened a new, blank Word document a literally blank document open (as it should). One day, a few months ago, that changed, and I can’t figure out why or how to fix it to go back to the way it should be.

KEY POINTS OF THIS MICROSOFT WORD ISSUE:

The following is what happens when I use Microsoft word now. I open Microsoft Word on my laptop and select: File New Blank document

There will then be one box (for lack of a better description) at the top of an otherwise blank document.

1. If I type one continuous sentence, the box continues. If the sentence is 17 lines long, then it's one big box.
2. If I get to the end of the available space on the right side of the page, and press enter then another box begins, opposed to continuing. It looks like a page of thin horizontal rectangles around all of my sentences. 3. If I use Word while online via my 365 account, this "box issue" has never happened.

Please help me figure out how to fix this issue!! It’s maddening that I can’t use Word correctly. It’s just as maddening that I can’t find the answer when I’ve searched in the Microsoft Word Help feature.

You want to use a paragraph style that has an outline level set. Here is how to create such a new style. (You can also modify an existing style to set an outline level.)

Word 1997 - 2003

Format > Style > New Style > Format > Paragraph > Outline Level

Word 2007 - 2021 (365)

Home Tab > Styles Pane > New Style (button) > Format > Paragraph > Outline Level

You could apply this outline level formatting through direct paragraph formatting, but why would you want to? This is what styles are for!

If using Numbering, do the level assignment when creating the MultiLevel List Style. See How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Ribbon Versions of Word by Shauna Kelly if you want to also have numbering in the levels.

Big Idea

2 - Use Built-In Heading Styles Rather Than Create Your Own

See Why use Microsoft Word’s built-in heading styles? by Shauna Kelly

The Built-In Heading styles already have outline levels assigned. They also have special properties that make other Word features work better. The first three levels even have built-in keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+Alt+1, Ctrl+Alt+2, Ctrl+Alt+3). You can even have if you want.

The built-in heading styles have paragraph formatting to keep the heading on the same page as the following paragraph. (This can be a problem if you put everything in a heading style.)

You can modify these styles to have any appearance you want. They can look the same as body text if you want.

Big Idea

3 - If You Want Outline Numbering or Even Different Levels of Lists

Do not just press a button or choose numbering format. This is almost always a mistake. Instead set up your styles by attaching them to a numbering list using the procedures outlined by Shauna Kelly:

This is the only known method of creating multi-level numbering/outlining/bullets that survives editing. Note that .

Big Idea

4 - Use Outline View

Outline View has been available since at least Word 97 and continues in the Ribbon Versions of Word. It not only changes the view but gives quick access to Outlining controls. These allow collapsing Outline levels, promoting and demoting paragraphs and other helpful methods. Leave the Master Document controls alone!

In Word 97-2003, you can access it under the View Menu, in later versions, under the View Tab. Once you click on Outline View, you are taken to the Outlining Tab.

Outline view lets you Collapse/Expand parts of your document quickly. You can select and copy/move entire parts of your document within Outline view. In Word 2013 and later, you can collapse sections with outline-level headings directly in the print view of the document as well. When moving parts it is often best to use Cut and Paste rather than dragging, at least in larger documents.

You can print just the outline (collapsed/expanded as wished) by using the Quick Print button (Word 97-2003). For later versions of Word, you will need to add the button to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) as outlined by Suzanne Barnhill in this Answers Thread.

You can reorganize your documents. Simply move collapsed headings. You can cut and paste or drag-and-drop the headings. The collapsed text moves with the heading. The same is true of deletions! In Word 2013 and later, this works ind Print Layout view as well.

If you use the of linking your numbering to styles, that works well with the Outline View. Changing levels in a paragraph will not change that paragraph's style. To have the outline level apply to the style, update the style to match formatting after you have applied the level to a paragraph using the style.

Warning: The Outline View in versions of Word after Word 97 has given access to the "Master Document features" of Word. These are dangerous and can destroy your work. See Master Documents before touching these "features."

See also: How to Save Yourself Hours by Using Outline View Properly by Dave Rado, MVP.

See also: How Writers Can Use Word's Outline View (Ribbon versions).

Big Idea

5 - Use the Navigation Pane in Word 2010 and later

Word 2010 introduced the Navigation Pane. Documents organized using Outline-Level headings and structure can be viewed and manipulated. Do not confuse this with the Document Map in earlier versions of Word, which should not be used for reorganizing.

You can promote/demote headings by right-clicking in the Navigation Pane.

The built-in heading styles will appear in the Navigaton Pane automatically. You can assign an outline level to a paragraph in some other style or make that level part of the custom style and it will appear in the Navigation Pane. However, you will not be able to promote or demote any styles other than the built-in heading styles (and styles based on those styles). Here you can see that the promote/demote commands are not available for custom styles even though they appear in the Navigation Pane.

See also: Navigation Pane in Word 2010 and later. See also: Headings that do not show up in the Navigation Pane or in a Table of Contents (or in Cross-References / Hyperlinks).

The Navigation Pane in Word for the Mac, as of January, 2024, cannot be used to reorganize documents. Use instead.

Big Idea

6 - Use Collapsible Headings (in Word 2013 and Later)

Word 2013 introduced the ability to collapse text under headings, actually under any paragraph with an outline level set in the paragraph formatting. This works by the outline level of the heading.

If your mouse pointer over any paragraph that has an outline level set, you will see a little triangle, either pointed to the right or angled down. That triangle appears in the left margin next to the paragraph. The appearance of the triangle is different in different versions of Word. The screenshot below is from Word 2019.

Clicking on the Triangle Toggles Between Collapsed and Uncollapsed

When you collapse a heading, Word hides the text following the heading paragraph until the next heading paragraph of the same or higher outline level. This will mean the rest of a document if there are no paragraphs in the appropriate outline level to stop the collapse.

The triangle showing collapsed text will show on the screen always.

The one to collapse text shows when you hover the mouse pointer over the paragraph. In the document shown the mouse pointer is over Heading 1, you still see the triangle indicating collapsed text in the first Heading 2, the second Heading 2 is not collapsed and does not show a triangle.

The ability to collapse/expand depends on the heading having an outline level.

Printing a Document with Collapsed Text

When you print a document that has text collapsed, the text collapsed is not printed. The little triangle indicating collapsed text is also not printed. The text is still there in the document. Links and Cross-References to that text will still work and using them will uncollapse the text.

If you convert to PDF, it will also not be printed.

Note: a Section break will stop Collapse/Expand.

The Navigation Pane view and Collapsing Text in the Body are Independent.

If you collapse text in your document at level 2 and there is text set to outline level 3 or lower in the collapsed area, it will still show up in the Navigation Pane. Likewise, if certain levels are collapsed in the Navigation Pane, it has no influence over what shows up in the document.

If you click on a heading shown in the Navigation Pane that is in a collapsed area of text, it will uncollapse the area. Clicking on either Heading 3 or Heading 4 in the Navigation Pane will uncollapse everything that is collapsed under that Heading 2 in the document text.

You can collapse your view of headings in the Navigation Pane. That has no effect on what is seen in the document, only on what is shown in the Navigation Pane.

Options for Collapsing Text

This is a feature designed into the Word program, itself. It is not a user option and you cannot turn it on or off.

There is an option to always uncollapse this text when opening a document. This is a user, not a document setting.

As of this writing (July 2022), collapsible headings do not work in the Mac versions.

You can set a paragraph to collapse by default. This is a document paragraph setting that can be a part of a style. This setting does not override the user setting to expand all headings when opening a document. The user setting controls.

Here is a screenshot doing the paragraph or style modification to collapse by default.

If you want all paragraphs in a style to be collapsed by default, you need to change the style. Again, when a document is opened on a system set to Expand all upon opening, the paragraphs will be expanded.

Big Idea

7 - Numbering levels and Outline levels are not the same thing.

You can give a paragraph style a numbering level without changing its Outline level and vice versa.

Big Idea

8 -Do Not Destroy Your Work Using the Master Documents "Feature"

This is on this page only because the Outlining Tab has buttons and options dealing with "Master Documents." I repeat: Do not touch these without reading my page on the Master Documents "Feature".

Note: The idea of labeling of sections as "big ideas" was stolen directly from Bill Coan's article on page numbering. The distinction between numbering levels and outline levels developed from comments by MVP Lisa Wilke-Thissen.