After combining three documents that contained track changes and reviewer comments, heading numbers for levels two and four became blacked out. The user could not find a way to fix it in the style settings or elsewhere. She reapplied a different heading numbering style and the numbers showed once more, but the next time she opened the document, the blacked out heading numbers were back again. 

Any ideas or help would be much appreciated. 

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. There might be some time delay. Appreciate your patience.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. There might be some time delay. Appreciate your patience.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

• Proposed as answer by Glor91 8 hours 51 minutes ago
• Unproposed as answer by Glor91 8 hours 51 minutes ago

Hello,

Thank you for your question.

I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. There might be some time delay. Appreciate your patience.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

• Proposed as answer by Glor91 Tuesday, April 28, 2015 10:37 PM
• Unproposed as answer by Glor91 Tuesday, April 28, 2015 10:37 PM

To make sure that numbering displays correctly, you'd have to turn off Track Changes and accept all changes.

What happens if you combine 2 documents first and then accept those changes before combining a third document?

The changes should be accepted in order for it to appear correctly.

Hi.

I got the same error when defining a totally new template, but it appeared first after adding list levels 6-9. I did paste some information from another template (footer table with formatting).

The really strange thing is that the black box only appeared on the numbered headerstyles that was not used in the template. I had no level 4 or 6-9 in the examples, and only these were affected.

Hi,

I have the same problems. Heading 3 is in a black box and there is nothing you can do. I started already with a new document, copied only the pure text, set the headings again and everything seems to be ok. after closing the Doc and open again, heading 3 is black. I have Office 2010 installed. Any idea would be helpful. I don't track changes, I started with a new document, so the 1st answer doesn't help.

I get the same error as well. I started a new document from one of the templates in Word, and suddenly after writing 50 pages with it, Headings level 2 and 3 had their numbers transformed to black boxes. I tried all the suggestions found in the forums but nothing works. It's really frustrating.

Hi People,

Having been through the same frustration, here is how I've successfully addressed this problem.

By Example
Given: Heading 1 ordered list style has the number portion blacked out.

Place the cursor at the text formatted with the "black-boxed" Heading 1 style.

Use this "Classic Menu" Alt-key shortcut: Alt-O, N -> the "Classic Menu" equivalent of Format, Bullets and Numbering -> you will now see a GUI dialog with four tabs: Bulleted, Numbered, Outline Numbered, List Styles -> select the List Styles tab.

The List styles frame offers a selection 1/1.1/1.1.1, make this selection and click OK. 

At this point, the Heading 1 text should no longer be "black-boxed" - you might need to adjust your margins and/or tabs, which you can do from the ruler, and then do a "Update Heading 1 to Match Selection".  

Et voilà!

Observation
The Ribbon does not offer this menu item which is the source of our collective frustration.

I'd Recommend
Taking the time to find and delete Normal.dotm, customize the styles as-so in that template and SAVE IT so you can import "your" styles from your "fixed" Normal.dotm for use in new documents.

I'd Also Recommend
Go to Addintools, download and install the Classic Menu Home and Student Edition for your version of Office, shut off the "K12" ribbon completely in the Options section of Word (or Excel, or PowerPoint)  and use the Classic Menus because all of Word's functionality is available from these menus and they are easy to find - unlike the ribbon.

Let me know how you make out.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Administrator

Having been through the same frustration, here is how I've successfully addressed this problem.

By Example
Given: Heading 1 ordered list style has the number portion blacked out.

Place the cursor at the text formatted with the "black-boxed" Heading 1 style.

Use this "Classic Menu" Alt-key shortcut: Alt-O, N -> the "Classic Menu" equivalent of Format, Bullets and Numbering -> you will now see a GUI dialog with four tabs: Bulleted, Numbered, Outline Numbered, List Styles -> select the List Styles tab.

The List styles frame offers a selection 1/1.1/1.1.1, make this selection and click OK.

In response to my own post...

What's happened, following my own advice is - after closing the document and opening it the next day - the same issue everybody had mentioned returned, and I was unable to fix it by modifying the "Heading X" styles.  Needless to say, that I was rather vexed by this event...

...however dear colleagues, I did find a resource from the 'net with an effective solution:
URL: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/word-2007-taming-multilevel-list-numbering/

I'm using these styles now in my documents and they are working fine!  A big relief - finally!!

In a nutshell, the solution is to set up a new Multilevel list style yourself - the procedure from the URL above is a wonderfully detailed step-by-step on how to do it and this will most certainly address the problem.  Taking your time, you can set up the styles properly in about thirty minutes; to replace the dysfunctional styles with functional ones throughout your document, you might use Search and Replace.

In the event you follow Rhonda's procedure to a successful end, please be courteous enough to send her a thank-you by email.  I did (I asked her Ok, to post that link back to her site) and she sent me a nice reply - you can find her email address on her website.

Thank-you Rhonda - big time - A++!!

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Administrator

In response to my own post...

What's happened, following my own advice is - after closing the document and opening it the next day - the same issue everybody had mentioned returned, and I was unable to fix it by modifying the "Heading X" styles.  Needless to say, that I was rather vexed by this event...

...however dear colleagues, I did find a resource from the 'net with an effective solution:
URL: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/word-2007-taming-multilevel-list-numbering/

I'm using these styles now in my documents and they are working fine!  A big relief - finally!!

In a nutshell, the solution is to set up a new Multilevel list style yourself - the procedure from the URL above is a wonderfully detailed step-by-step on how to do it and this will most certainly address the problem.  Taking your time, you can set up the styles properly in about thirty minutes; to replace the dysfunctional styles with functional ones throughout your document, you might use Search and Replace.

In the event you follow Rhonda's procedure to a successful end, please be courteous enough to send her a thank-you by email.  I did (I asked her Ok, to post that link back to her site) and she sent me a nice reply - you can find her email address on her website.

Thank-you Rhonda - big time - A++!!

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Adminis

I believe the problem description is clear and has been adequately described in the very first post by Aaron TN, and those of Jon Kobelstein, Braeuo and Yousef.

The procedure in link I've posted, "the fix", written by Rhonda is also clear: this is an excellent solution to the noted problem.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Administrator

I believe the problem description is clear and has been adequately described in the very first post by Aaron TN, and those of Jon Kobelstein, Braeuo and Yousef.

The procedure in link I've posted, "the fix", written by Rhonda is also clear: this is an excellent solution to the noted problem.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Adminis

There's no "seems" about it; please read Rhonda's procedure in the link posted and you will answer your own questions and learn something. 

This is a place to share solutions and learn from each other - which I've done my best to do, so I'll pardon the misplaced inference to the contrary.  It's all there, spelled out very clearly, in Rhonda's post - please read it. 

As far as being helpful goes well, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructrue Administrator

There's no "seems" about it; please read Rhonda's procedure in the link posted and you will answer your own questions and learn something. 

This is a place to share solutions and learn from each other - which I've done my best to do, so I'll pardon the misplaced inference to the contrary.  It's all there, spelled out very clearly, in Rhonda's post - please read it. 

As far as being helpful goes well, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructrue Adminis

This is how I corrected the problem very quickly, using the Character Shading tool beside the font color selector.

Problem: I created a document with Heading 1, 2, 3, and 4, saved it as a .doc and it was fine but when I saved it as a .docx Heading 1 and 3 showed up as black boxes.

Solution: There is an A inside a gray box that sits beside the A for setting font color, just to the right. Select the Heading 1 and click on the A in the graybox which is "character shading", by the way. When I clicked once the box turned to gray and when I clicked a second time the font showed up without any boxes, black or gray. I then selected Heading 3 and did the same thing and this fixed it for both.

I then saved it as a .docx, closed and reopened and the black box did not return. I had to go back into Heading 1 and 3 and reset the font type and then set the indention right again.

Hope this helps!

• Proposed as answer by Nuño Wednesday, November 09, 2011 11:31 PM

This is how I corrected the problem very quickly, using the Character Shading tool beside the font color selector.

Problem: I created a document with Heading 1, 2, 3, and 4, saved it as a .doc and it was fine but when I saved it as a .docx Heading 1 and 3 showed up as black boxes.

Solution: There is an A inside a gray box that sits beside the A for setting font color, just to the right. Select the Heading 1 and click on the A in the graybox which is "character shading", by the way. When I clicked once the box turned to gray and when I clicked a second time the font showed up without any boxes, black or gray. I then selected Heading 3 and did the same thing and this fixed it for both.

I then saved it as a .docx, closed and reopened and the black box did not return. I had to go back into Heading 1 and 3 and reset the font type and then set the indention right again.

Hope this helps!

• Proposed as answer by Nuño Wednesday, November 09, 2011 11:31 PM

I'm getting the same issue. Level 3 lists are all showing as a black box. When I re-create the list style, save and re-open the document the Level 3 list is back to being a black box. Very Frustrating!

I just find it very frustrating that I should spend half an hour on making a liststyle that already exists

whitout a guarantee of it not showing up again.

Seems to me like an unsolved problem. the other answers dont seem to work either

• Edited by Normal Niels Wednesday, November 02, 2011 3:27 PM

I just find it very frustrating that I should spend half an hour on making a liststyle that already exists

whitout a guarantee of it not showing up again.

Seems to me like an unsolved problem. the other answers dont seem to work either

• Edited by Normal Niels Wednesday, November 02, 2011 3:27 PM

I just find it very frustrating that I should spend half an hour on making a liststyle that already exists

whitout a guarantee of it not showing up again.

Seems to me like an unsolved problem. the other answers dont seem to work

Genmunden, your solution worked for me...

I had to zoom in and did several clicks in the black box until a selection appeared (usually the cursor goes to the text). Then I just clicked on the "broken" style and everything got fixed.

The problem I found is that if I just saved the file the problem appeared again when I reopened it so I decided to save it as .doc. Another solution I saw is modifying the style giving more space between the numbers and the text.

Hope this helps, the issue it is very frustrating and annoying! 

my solution is simple, just open a new empty document, copy all the text from the old one with blackouts into a new one and thats it, blackspots do not move and you woun't see them again. Save a new

This is definitely a bug. I succeeded in fixing it as follows:
1. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
2. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
3. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialog "Apply Styles" should appear
4. In this box, click "reapply"

This fixed the issue for me. Good luck.

(P.S.: the Submit button on this forum does not work in Firefox)

• Proposed as answer by Kamhas Monday, April 02, 2012 10:23 AM
• Marked as answer by David WoltersModerator Monday, April 02, 2012 3:23 PM

This is definitely a bug. I succeeded in fixing it as follows:
1. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
2. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
3. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialog "Apply Styles" should appear
4. In this box, click "reapply"

This fixed the issue for me. Good luck.

(P.S.: the Submit button on this forum does not work in Firefox)

• Proposed as answer by Kamhas Monday, April 02, 2012 10:23 AM
• Marked as answer by David WoltersModerator Monday, April 02, 2012 3:23 PM

Okay so I tried what KevinSpiritus said and that worked until I saved.

After searching for a long time I found it.

It seems like the headers (if you work with them to style lists) get corrupted somehow.

The fix:

1. Do the thing KevinSpiritus does.

2. Save your list as a template

3. Reload the document

4. Open the list and adjust your content to it.

hope this works for you guys

Thank you, thank you, thank you KevinSpiritus -

I'm writing up my PhD thesis, & this bug (numbers blackening) has been driving me bonkers - my previous solution had been to paste the chapter content into my thesis template... but as soon as i saved the file (either as doc or docx), closed it & re-opened, Heading 3 would blacken.  Incidentally - I haven't used track changes & i havent merged documents, so the bug is not unique to TC & merge.

Yours gratefully

Manda :)

Hi,

I had the same problem this is what I did:

1. Open your document that has the blacked out boxes {Corrupt Document}

2. Open a document that has working lists (like your earlier version probably) {Working Document}

3. In the 'Corrupt Document', Go to one of the sections with a box, and press 'left' arrow so it turns grey [KevinSpiritus explains it]

4. In your 'Working Document' Highlight a heading that is correct

5. Back in the 'Corrupt Document' right click on the heading you want to fix [home ribbon, styles] and choose Update to Match Selection

Done.

KevinSpiritus' solution didn't work for me, and with StoneShares the numbering didn't continue on.

• Proposed as answer by Cody2099 Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:57 AM
• Edited by Cody2099 Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:59 AM

Hi,

I had the same problem this is what I did:

1. Open your document that has the blacked out boxes {Corrupt Document}

2. Open a document that has working lists (like your earlier version probably) {Working Document}

3. In the 'Corrupt Document', Go to one of the sections with a box, and press 'left' arrow so it turns grey [KevinSpiritus explains it]

4. In your 'Working Document' Highlight a heading that is correct

5. Back in the 'Corrupt Document' right click on the heading you want to fix [home ribbon, styles] and choose Update to Match Selection

Done.

KevinSpiritus' solution didn't work for me, and with StoneShares the numbering didn't continue on.

• Proposed as answer by Cody2099 Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:57 AM
• Edited by Cody2099 Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:59 AM

Another option, which is quick, is this: If you have a "good" (earlier) version of your document with the styles intact, use the "Change styles" menu to save that style.  Then, go into the "bad" version of the document and apply the styles you saved in the good version. This was a 5-minute fix, and worked for me. The changes remained after I closed and re-opened the document. 

Steps: 

1. Open a good version of the document (without the "black box" bug.) On the Home tab, select Change Styles on the right of the ribbon menu.

 2. Select Style Set and then Save Style Set.

3. Save the style in the Good document as a Style Set (with a name you can remember). Close the document.

4. Open the bad document (with the bug). Go back into the Change styles menu (above) and apply the style you just saved above. That should do it.

• Proposed as answer by CannadyL Tuesday, August 21, 2012 5:50 PM

Another option, which is quick, is this: If you have a "good" (earlier) version of your document with the styles intact, use the "Change styles" menu to save that style.  Then, go into the "bad" version of the document and apply the styles you saved in the good version. This was a 5-minute fix, and worked for me. The changes remained after I closed and re-opened the document. 

Steps: 

1. Open a good version of the document (without the "black box" bug.) On the Home tab, select Change Styles on the right of the ribbon menu.

 2. Select Style Set and then Save Style Set.

3. Save the style in the Good document as a Style Set (with a name you can remember). Close the document.

4. Open the bad document (with the bug). Go back into the Change styles menu (above) and apply the style you just saved above. That should do it.

• Proposed as answer by CannadyL Tuesday, August 21, 2012 5:50 PM

If the changes in Kevin's suggestion don't "survive" after you close and reopen the document, try applying the styles from a saved, un-buggy version of the document. That's what I had to do. 

I've tried all the options above and so far Kevin's suggestion worked the best until I saved it. I am working with Word 2010 and eventually found the following solution (after multiple times open & save no black boxes reoccurred):

1. Use KevinSpiritus' solution:

i. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
ii. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
iii. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialogue "Apply Styles" should appear
iv. In this box, click "reapply" AND

V. click Modify and tick Automatically update, click ok

VI. close Apply Styles

After that save the document and reopen.

KevinSpiritus - Thank you, thank you, thank you for this answer! I have been beating my brains out trying to fix this exact problem. I even went so far as to save in XML format and slog through the codes trying to find something to fix. The steps above fixed the problem in seconds!

• Edited by JimTheFrog Wednesday, September 26, 2012 1:48 AM

KevinSpiritus - Thank you, thank you, thank you for this answer! I have been beating my brains out trying to fix this exact problem. I even went so far as to save in XML format and slog through the codes trying to find something to fix. The steps above fixed the problem in seconds!

• Edited by JimTheFrog Wednesday, September 26, 2012 1:48 AM

This is definitely a bug. I succeeded in fixing it as follows:
1. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
2. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
3. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialog "Apply Styles" should appear
4. In this box, click "reapply"

This fixed the issue for me. Good luck.

(P.S.: the Submit button on this forum does not work in Firefox)

• Edited by MarkusT Friday, October 19, 2012 10:59 AM

This is definitely a bug. I succeeded in fixing it as follows:
1. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
2. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
3. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialog "Apply Styles" should appear
4. In this box, click "reapply"

This fixed the issue for me. Good luck.

(P.S.: the Submit button on this forum does not work in Firefox)

• Edited by MarkusT Friday, October 19, 2012 10:59 AM

This is definitely a bug. I succeeded in fixing it as follows:
1. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
2. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
3. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialog "Apply Styles" should appear
4. In this box, click "reapply"

This fixed the issue for me. Good luck.

(P.S.: the Submit button on this forum does not work in Firefox)

Unfortunately none of the suggestions above work for me (Word 2010). After applying the changes everything looks OK but when re-opening the newly saved document the black boxes are back.

Well I guess that I will not close down Word, hibernate till the project ends and instead distribute the document as PDF. :-)

On 2012-12-17 09:28, Hkan Andersson (Zingle) wrote:

Unfortunately none of the suggestions above work for me (Word 2010). After applying the changes everything looks OK but when re-opening the newly saved document the black boxes are back.

Well I guess that I will not close down Word, hibernate till the project ends and instead distribute the document as PDF. :-)

YOU ARE MY HERO !!!!!

I have this problem constantly, so I'm glad I foundly found a SIMPLE solution :)

Really: thanks a lot !!!!

• Edited by Gazy Fnish Monday, January 07, 2013 12:33 PM

• Edited by Gazy Fnish Monday, January 07, 2013 12:33 PM

This is definitely a bug. I succeeded in fixing it as follows:
1. Put your cursor on the heading just right of the black box
2. Use the left arrow key on your keyboard to move left until the black box turns grey
3. Use the keyboard combination ctrl+shift+s, the dialog "Apply Styles" should appear
4. In this box, click "reapply"

This fixed the issue for me. Good luck.

(P.S.: the Submit button on this forum does not work in Firefox)

Apparently the only thing that worked for me was saving the document as a .doc instead of .docx

But, this issue was really bothering me and I was too lazy to create a new style/list. Here is what I did for a permanent fix without having to create a completely new style:

1. Select the text with the style having the issue (say its Header 1 in this case).

2. Click on clear formatting

3. With the text still selected, right click on the original style (Header 1 in my example) and click on "Update Heading 1 to match selection". This will clear the formatting for Header 1.

4. Manually create the style just for this text again. If it is a number list, create just the one that is the issue not the entire list. In this case it is header 1, so I will change the font, change the numbering format etc to match what I wanted in the first place.

5. With the text still selected, right click on the original style (Header 1 in my example) and click on "Update Heading 1 to match selection". This will apply the new formatting to the Header 1.

For some reason if this doesnt work, save the document as .doc instead of .docx :)

Specifically, since the problem occurs each time you reopen the document, have you made sure that "Automatically update document styles" is cleared?

I have.

Over the various occasions on which I have encountered this issue I've tried most of the solutions offered (I'm about to try saving as a .doc) and none have persisted after saving.  'Automatically update document styles' is definitely cleared.

Do you want a copy of a corrupted document?

I was dealing with this issue with Word 2013, and become extremely annoyed. All the solutions posted above are temporary fixes, but I have found a worthy fix that works even on reloading the document:

Select the tab "Design", and select any theme. You can then select "Define New Multilevel List" under the "Home" tab, and select your headings appropriately there.

Changing the theme tends to delete all corrupted multilevel lists in your document.

Problem solved.

That was damn cool mann :) 

Thank you so much for the solution ... worked perfectly :D 

That solved a problem I had this weekend as well.

Much appreciated

Hi, everyone:

I tried all the answers offered here (Kevin's "reapply" answer, importing a style set from a working document, saving as .doc, using the "update to match selection" option to copy a style from a different document, using the "Change Styles" option to do the same, ticking the "Automatically Update" option, clearing formatting and manually recreating the style, changing the theme of the document and then redefining the multi-level list), and many of them worked temporarily, but the problem persisted every time I reopened the document.

I finally did find an answer that worked for me here: answers[DOT]microsoft[DOT]com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-word/word-2010-blacking-out-numbering-for-heading-3-in/fad5f7c6-c961-4a0b-882d-7a3a63aeda36 (Replace each "[DOT]" with a period.)

From Nick_Evans's answer:

• Find a document with the correct formatting in it
• Save it as a template
• In the corrupted (for that is what it is) document go to the styles dialog box. The easiest way to do this is to use CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S, otherwise you have to find your way through the poxy ribbon
• Hit the manage style button at the bottom of the box (right hand one of the three)
• Hit import/export
• in the right hand window of the box which appears, hit close file
• Now navigate to the uncorrupted document and select it.
• In the scroll box above navigate to the style you want to fix and click on it (single click)
• The copy arrow should now poin to the right, toward teh corrupt document
• Hit copy
• Say yes to everything
• Close all dialog boxes

If Kevin's answer didn't fix it for your permanently, I recommend trying this.

• Proposed as answer by Ceiswyn Monday, June 30, 2014 3:51 PM

Hi, everyone:

I tried all the answers offered here (Kevin's "reapply" answer, importing a style set from a working document, saving as .doc, using the "update to match selection" option to copy a style from a different document, using the "Change Styles" option to do the same, ticking the "Automatically Update" option, clearing formatting and manually recreating the style, changing the theme of the document and then redefining the multi-level list), and many of them worked temporarily, but the problem persisted every time I reopened the document.

I finally did find an answer that worked for me here: answers[DOT]microsoft[DOT]com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-word/word-2010-blacking-out-numbering-for-heading-3-in/fad5f7c6-c961-4a0b-882d-7a3a63aeda36 (Replace each "[DOT]" with a period.)

From Nick_Evans's answer:

• Find a document with the correct formatting in it
• Save it as a template
• In the corrupted (for that is what it is) document go to the styles dialog box. The easiest way to do this is to use CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S, otherwise you have to find your way through the poxy ribbon
• Hit the manage style button at the bottom of the box (right hand one of the three)
• Hit import/export
• in the right hand window of the box which appears, hit close file
• Now navigate to the uncorrupted document and select it.
• In the scroll box above navigate to the style you want to fix and click on it (single click)
• The copy arrow should now poin to the right, toward teh corrupt document
• Hit copy
• Say yes to everything
• Close all dialog boxes

If Kevin's answer didn't fix it for your permanently, I recommend trying this.

• Proposed as answer by Ceiswyn Monday, June 30, 2014 3:51 PM

To make sure that numbering displays correctly, you'd have to turn off Track Changes and accept all changes.

Hi People,

Having been through the same frustration, here is how I've successfully addressed this problem.

By Example
Given: Heading 1 ordered list style has the number portion blacked out.

Place the cursor at the text formatted with the "black-boxed" Heading 1 style.

Use this "Classic Menu" Alt-key shortcut: Alt-O, N -> the "Classic Menu" equivalent of Format, Bullets and Numbering -> you will now see a GUI dialog with four tabs: Bulleted, Numbered, Outline Numbered, List Styles -> select the List Styles tab.

The List styles frame offers a selection 1/1.1/1.1.1, make this selection and click OK. 

At this point, the Heading 1 text should no longer be "black-boxed" - you might need to adjust your margins and/or tabs, which you can do from the ruler, and then do a "Update Heading 1 to Match Selection".  

Et voil!

Observation
The Ribbon does not offer this menu item which is the source of our collective frustration.

I'd Recommend
Taking the time to find and delete Normal.dotm, customize the styles as-so in that template and SAVE IT so you can import "your" styles from your "fixed" Normal.dotm for use in new documents.

I'd Also Recommend
Go to Addintools, download and install the Classic Menu Home and Student Edition for your version of Office, shut off the "K12" ribbon completely in the Options section of Word (or Excel, or PowerPoint)  and use the Classic Menus because all of Word's functionality is available from these menus and they are easy to find - unlike the ribbon.

Let me know how you make out.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Administrator

Hey thanks, it's a good try there but when I applied your instructions it only did this for the current header. In other words:
- It required me to do it for all headers for an entire document
- The layout needed to be adjusted again

This has happend a few times to me now and I'm going to ask for a downgrade to from word 2013 to word 2010 until Microsoft can fix the problem. (Unless a permanent solution can be found)

• Edited by phoenix414 Monday, June 30, 2014 3:57 PM

Hi People,

Having been through the same frustration, here is how I've successfully addressed this problem.

By Example
Given: Heading 1 ordered list style has the number portion blacked out.

Place the cursor at the text formatted with the "black-boxed" Heading 1 style.

Use this "Classic Menu" Alt-key shortcut: Alt-O, N -> the "Classic Menu" equivalent of Format, Bullets and Numbering -> you will now see a GUI dialog with four tabs: Bulleted, Numbered, Outline Numbered, List Styles -> select the List Styles tab.

The List styles frame offers a selection 1/1.1/1.1.1, make this selection and click OK. 

At this point, the Heading 1 text should no longer be "black-boxed" - you might need to adjust your margins and/or tabs, which you can do from the ruler, and then do a "Update Heading 1 to Match Selection".  

Et voil!

Observation
The Ribbon does not offer this menu item which is the source of our collective frustration.

I'd Recommend
Taking the time to find and delete Normal.dotm, customize the styles as-so in that template and SAVE IT so you can import "your" styles from your "fixed" Normal.dotm for use in new documents.

I'd Also Recommend
Go to Addintools, download and install the Classic Menu Home and Student Edition for your version of Office, shut off the "K12" ribbon completely in the Options section of Word (or Excel, or PowerPoint)  and use the Classic Menus because all of Word's functionality is available from these menus and they are easy to find - unlike the ribbon.

Let me know how you make out.

Brian-Paul
Infrastructure Administrator

Hey thanks, it's a good try there but when I applied your instructions it only did this for the current header. In other words:
- It required me to do it for all headers for an entire document
- The layout needed to be adjusted again

This has happend a few times to me now and I'm going to ask for a downgrade to from word 2013 to word 2010 until Microsoft can fix the problem. (Unless a permanent solution can be found)

• Edited by phoenix414 Monday, June 30, 2014 3:57 PM

This has nothing to do with the proble

I can't see an 'Unmark as Answer' link.  Where's

This fixed it for me in 30secs and I had previously spent hours trying......THANKS

Hi.,

I had faced such a bug.

Your solution really works for this bug. Thank you very much.

A quick and effective answer. I'll have to try and remember it.

Ok, here's how I fixed (lucky fix i guess...)

1. zomm in until you can make the black box grey with the cursor arrows.

2. press ctrl+shift+z

And then it was fixed. Why? I don't know...

Hope it helps

For blacked out heading numbering

The problem occurs because the font characteristics in the list template have become corrupted.  It can be fixed by running a macro containing the following code:

For Each templ In ActiveDocument.ListTemplates

For Each lev In templ.ListLevels

lev.Font.Reset

Next lev

Next templ

I found a simple solution that worked for me.

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm

I saved as a web page then reopened with word and it cleared the problem that in my case none of the other solutions were able to do.  The ones I tried listed here would work until I reopened the document and then it would reappear.

Bob

sovled my problem