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Microsoft Word 2013 display deteriorates in Print Layout view on a Windows 8.1 notebook

I just upgraded Office 2010 to Office 2013 on my Windows 8.1 notebook, and Word 2013 is doing something I've never seen before.  I prefer to work in Print Layout view.  After I've been working with a document for awhile, or more readily if I open multiple .docx files, the entire Word window starts to get glitchy.  Random lines and characters appear in the document area, as if the document has been corrupted (it hasn't).  Some lines of text in the document go missing, or else are duplicated.  Word tables are totally scrambled.  Then parts of the Word window outside of the document area begin to randomly deteriorate.  Icons on the Quick Access Toolbar disappear or become corrupted in appearance.  Areas on the Ribbon do the same thing.  The commands on the action bar disappear.  If I mouse over any of these decrepit areas, they are restored, except for the document area, which just gets worse and worse.

Switching to Read Mode view or Draft view immediately clears up the entire Word window, after which I can switch back to the Print Layout view and everything will be OK for at least a little while.  Then the problems start up again.

Note that this behavior has not occurred with Excel 2013 or Powerpoint 2013 or Outlook 2013, only Word 2013, and only on my Windows 8.1 notebook.  Word 2013 is operating normally on my Windows 7 desktop system.

Also note that when this happens, all other programs running on my Windows 8.1 notebook are unaffected.  The issue is specific to Word 2013.

My system is up to date, with no pending updates available.

Any assistance appreciated.

Answer
Answer

I initially thought that this add-in was the culprit:

Name                         Location                                                                          Type
Send to Bluetooth     C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Bluetooth\btmoffice.dll      COM Add-in

However, a little while after disabling it, the problem recurred.

I was unable to reproduce the problem in safe mode.

I finally discovered that selecting the Disable hardware graphics acceleration check box under Options > Advanced > Display eliminated the problem.

This is a bit disappointing since this problem occurred on a very high-end notebook pc that is only 18 months old, and the issue never occurred over an 18-month period of heavy use of Office 2010 programs including Word (i.e., prior to the Office 2013 upgrade that I installed just a few days ago).

But thanks for your help.

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Hello,

Let us start Word in application safe and then open the files by going to File and Open and check how it works.

To do that, press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.

In the Run open box type in ‘Winword /safe’ and hit ok.

Note: There is a space between Winword and /.

If application safe works, try the steps in the following article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541

You may also try disabling hardware acceleration in Word and verify the results.

Steps:

  1. Click the File tab.
  2. Click Options.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Under Display, select the Disable hardware graphics acceleration check box.
  5. Click Ok.
  6.  

Follow the steps and let us know if that helps. If the issue persists, reply and we will be happy to help you.

Thank you.

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Last updated October 5, 2021 Views 9 Applies to: