Word Word docs only showing in half of window

[Jessi_Lynn]

I hope there's an actual answer out there!

I stupidly downloaded the newer Office my college offers, after I upgraded my hard drive. When I open any of my Word documents, they only show in half of the window- whether I've got a partial or maximized window. I've tried everything I can think of:

When I check/uncheck an option such as "view: ruler", it momentarily shows the fullscreen doc- then goes back to half;
when I split, then remove split, it'll show the full screen, but if I minimize Word, it reverts back to half;
zoom is 100%, and it's not a stupid error on my part; I've never had the issue with my old copy and use Word daily.

I've only found dead ends and broken threads, so far. I saw one guy mention that he remembered it had something to do with a combination of Office and Outlook (but the link was broken, and he did say that he was never able to find a permanent fix). I DID actually use Outlook this time around (which I've refused to do in the past). Has anyone come across this problem, and- better yet- found a way to fix it? I'm about ready to go back to my old copy, but it drives me crazy that I can't find an answer.

Thanks for any help!
Jessica

 

[Ian]

Welcome to the forums, Jessica.

That is a very strange problem - I've had a play around with my version of Word and it does look very much like a problem with the Split option that you've already tried toggling.

Could you try doing a repair install and see if that helps?:

https://support.office.com/en-gb/ar...lication-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b

It may be worth fully uninstalling Office and then re-installing it, to see if that helps (although you may have to re-configure Outlook and backup your e-mails, if you are using this now).

 

[Jessi_Lynn]

Thanks, Ian.

Yes, I'm sure I can find the time to do that today. I want to know if it is indeed an issue with Outlook, so I may revert to solely Gmail (even if it causes an additional reinstall).

 

[Jessi_Lynn]

I've gotten rid of Outlook, and reinstalled Office 3 times. I thought it was working earlier today, but eventually, the half screen comes back. I still haven't found anyone who's fixed this completely. I love solving problems, but my old version is looking even better...

 

[Tumbleweed06]

Both my husband and I have Office on our Macs and recently all Word documents have shrunk to almost a postage stamp size (well three postage stamps actually). I see that others have had that problem. My Office App dates from 2011. Any ideas how to solve this? Our nearest Apple Dealer is miles away. Appreciate and thankful for any help and solution to this.

 

[Jessi_Lynn]

Both my husband and I have Office on our Macs and recently all Word documents have shrunk to almost a postage stamp size (well three postage stamps actually). I see that others have had that problem. My Office App dates from 2011. Any ideas how to solve this? Our nearest Apple Dealer is miles away. Appreciate and thankful for any help and solution to this.

I've always stayed away from Apple (and yet, those in my family who own them STILL come to me to try to figure them out, lol), so I'm not familiar with the differences. I upgraded my laptop to an SSD and removed Outlook, and the problem went away. But your issue sounds a bit different...

It opens in a tiny window? Could it be a default size that needs to be changed? I think that- to some extent- a window will open as the same size in which it was closed, and I don't think the maximize icon helps. Try opening a file, dragging the bottom-right corner out to enlarge, save it, and close. Reopen, and see if that did anything.

I wish I knew more, so I could help. This is a great site, though, so someone should be able to help if I couldn't. Good luck!

Jessica

 

[Tumbleweed06]

Thanks Jessica. One of the problems is that I cannot expand the item. Those arrows that enable you to pull and enlarge the document do not work. It's a real bummer. We might try and uninstall Office and then re-install it and see what happens.

 

[Jessi_Lynn]

That's crazy! Is there some kind of window lock function (that's how stupid I am when it comes to Apple )? I'd be reinstalling, too. That it's happening on 2 different Macs is strange, but it may help pinpoint the problem. I hope you're able to figure it out! And I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.