Word for Windows document displays no text

[Gary Goldberg]

I received a 117KB Word document which was probably created
using a Windows version of Word but when I open it there
is no text or anything.

How do I correct this? Does it perhaps mean that I don't have
the correct font? I'm sure the document is in American English
(which is my default language setting).

My Word is Word 2004 and I have the latest update, 11.3,
and OS (10.4.8)

Gary

 

[CyberTaz]

What does the Status Bar tell you - How many 'pages'. What about
File>Properties?... any clues there? Seems like there must be content if the
file is 117K.

One guess is that the content of the doc has been formatted as Hidden - make
sure you have the Show/Hide button ON. If the content shows up, that is the
problem. You can Select All & use Format>Font to remove the Hidden
attribute. (Select All - Cmd+A - may tell you something on it's own.)

If that isn't it then there are other [less likely] possibilities, but I
doubt that it is a font issue. If it were [usually] there would be *some
sort* of content appearing even thought it might be meaningless symbols &
hollow boxes.

Another possibility [really reaching here] is if the other user included
*only* pictorial content & you don't have your Word>Preferences>View setting
in place to view graphics. Make sure there is a check in the box for
Drawings & *not* one in the box for Picture Placeholders.

 

[Clive Huggan]

Hello Gary,

First we need to establish what might be in the document on your Mac.

Type Command-a to select the text (if any), then key Control-spacebar (i.e.,
hold down the Control key and hit the spacebar once). Does anything show
now?

How many characters are shown when you choose Tools menu -> Word Count?

Post back with details, and if it's a matter of e-mail settings (assuming
you received the document by e-mail) someone will walk you through that.

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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[Gary Goldberg]

What does the Status Bar tell you - How many 'pages'. What about
File>Properties?... any clues there? Seems like there must be content if the
file is 117K.

One page, 5 lines.

One guess is that the content of the doc has been formatted as Hidden - make
sure you have the Show/Hide button ON. If the content shows up, that is the
problem. You can Select All & use Format>Font to remove the Hidden
attribute. (Select All - Cmd+A - may tell you something on it's own.)

If that isn't it then there are other [less likely] possibilities, but I
doubt that it is a font issue. If it were [usually] there would be *some
sort* of content appearing even thought it might be meaningless symbols &
hollow boxes.

Another possibility [really reaching here] is if the other user included
*only* pictorial content & you don't have your Word>Preferences>View setting
in place to view graphics. Make sure there is a check in the box for
Drawings & *not* one in the box for Picture Placeholders.

THAT solved the problem! Indeed, it was textual, but in some image of
some sort made up of text boxes.

Thanks!

 

[CyberTaz]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for posting back with the results.
--
Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

What does the Status Bar tell you - How many 'pages'. What about
File>Properties?... any clues there? Seems like there must be content if
the
file is 117K.

One page, 5 lines.

One guess is that the content of the doc has been formatted as Hidden -
make
sure you have the Show/Hide button ON. If the content shows up, that is
the
problem. You can Select All & use Format>Font to remove the Hidden
attribute. (Select All - Cmd+A - may tell you something on it's own.)

If that isn't it then there are other [less likely] possibilities, but I
doubt that it is a font issue. If it were [usually] there would be *some
sort* of content appearing even thought it might be meaningless symbols &
hollow boxes.

Another possibility [really reaching here] is if the other user included
*only* pictorial content & you don't have your Word>Preferences>View
setting
in place to view graphics. Make sure there is a check in the box for
Drawings & *not* one in the box for Picture Placeholders.

THAT solved the problem! Indeed, it was textual, but in some image of
some sort made up of text boxes.

Thanks!