Excel black boxes appearing. (If you don't see this link, click Read article in .

Excel black boxes appearing. Has anyone encountered a similar bug yet and can help me with solving this issue? Feb 25, 2022 · I am pressing Alt+Tab, to alternate between Excel and a different window. Paste the the "box" symbol in the "Find" field and leave the "Replace with" blank. Click File > Excel Options > Add-Ins on the left I am getting really strange black and blue areas covering up part of my spreadsheet when I open it in Excel on the web, it works fine on the desktop app. chatGPT, BARD, GPT4 etc) to create forum answers is not permitted. Does anyone have Feb 12, 2025 · Have you ever wanted to make your Excel spreadsheets a little more interactive or user-friendly? Well, adding checkboxes might just be the answer you’ve been looking for. I would say BEFORE running the repair tool, try disabling hardware acceleration in excel's advances settings, as that seemed to be the first thing everyone suggested. Other browsers work fine. I tried importing a spreadsheet into AutoCAD, which worked great, everything is there that needs to be. The first method to fix the mentioned problem, is to unhide the contents of the Workbook. What is your Excel platform/version? Jul 7, 2025 · We recently experienced an issue where users saw black boxes overlaying parts of their Citrix published app. When you join the cursor to this box, it changes to a black cross and when you click and drag the Fill Handle, it fills the proceeding cells according to the value (s) of the selected cell (s). Oct 25, 2022 · Hello, I'm also having trouble with boxes showing up every time I press return. Sometimes when I open it there are already a large # of black rows. These borders can be distracting and make the spreadsheet appear cluttered. Is there a way that I can cancel this or eliminate… Jun 6, 2024 · Excel is a widely used software program that allows users to create and manipulate data in various ways. This should remove all the "box" symbols in the entire sheet in one go. One set of data is refreshed at 2 seconds while the other is 200 milliseconds. When I open the PDF the data is still there from the spread sheet. (If you don't see this link, click Read article in A vibrant community of Excel enthusiasts. Nov 17, 2023 · Open a browser tab then login to Personal Cloud Storage – Microsoft OneDrive Open or upload one of the affected Excel files. I cannot select it, move it, change itnothing. Why is there a thick dark box around the formula bar in Excel?. Jun 11, 2020 · I once copied some data (can't remember from where) into an excel spreadsheet and then cleared out the data. Sometimes 5 rows, sometimes 10. In this Excel tutorial, we will show you how to remove these boxes and improve the app Google Sheet shows black cells If we use google sheets on Chrome, the pages will load up as black cells. i. I've tried doing an online repair… Stray text boxes or shapes randomly popping up in Excel can be both distracting and confusing. Nov 10, 2015 · I have this rectangle that is semi transparent that is showing up in the right hand corner of my Excel spreadsheets. Unhide Excel Workbook. If any of the check boxes in this section and the following one is ticked, you should clear those. In Oct 5, 2017 · All of a sudden when I opened the spreadsheet today, it creates black boxes in a variety of different scenarios: When I enter something into a cell then hit tab to go to the next cell, it creates a black row. I have Mar 24, 2025 · Or just a certain file? Does your issue only appear in Excel, but not in any other Office apps? (For example, does Word has a fully black background issue?) If all of your Excel sheet's cells all turn black, it's likely due to accidental formatting. Any suggestions? Feb 8, 2025 · The “Checkbox” option under Insert is no longer available in my Excel. This is annoying because if I ever have to go back through a sentence and change… Nov 26, 2023 · Formula bar in Excel always has black background, perhaps the question is why text in formula bar is in black. It does not show in the document and only when printing or in the print preview, you see a huge black … I don't remember changing any dark mode settings on my laptop, but some of my office apps is black on default, and dialogue boxes on logins are white with white texts. Unfortunately I hava a random black box that appears in the middle of the screen. It appears to be related to the actual worksheet rather than the PC as I have opened the worksheet on three different PCs (two running Excel 2003, the other running Excel 2007). It seems to happen on desktop use when I change the view in some way, such as minimizing / maximizing a window, changing the tab on my browser etc. I haven't experienced it or any other issues during gaming at all. For some of the questions I have added a comment the will be shown when hovering over the comment. Any Dec 29, 2022 · Good afternoon, I have an excel file that is running forms, macros and various 'stuff' in order to help users enter product type and the file will return machine settings they should be running. When I open any spreadsheet (new or already populated) the black box that normally frames the active cell is missing (showing which cell you have selected). Any ideas? Feb 24, 2014 · Mysterious black boxes appear on my spreadsheets. If the screen doesn't refresh, they stay there until I move my mouse. Jul 24, 2014 · on one of my colleagues spreadsheets it is showing a solid black box which pops up sporadically Any ideas? Nov 26, 2017 · Hey everyone, I've been having this random error where a bunch of black bars appear randomly on my excel workbook. Sometimes. Sep 15, 2023 · Strange black and white boxes appearing on my monitor By y33ticulum September 15, 2023 in Graphics Cards Followers 1 Jan 19, 2021 · Whenever I plug in a second monitor and display my screen in Extended Mode, apps that are opened on the second monitor will sometimes appear with a white or black block obscuring the top of the app. Formulas that return dates and times as negative values can also show as #####. Basically my cells and graphs are black even though I haven’t activated any setting to do so. Is there a setting to get rid of it? Apr 17, 2020 · Recently, whenever I switch windows in Microsoft Excel or Words, I see these random gray boxes which disappear as soon as I take my mouse cursor over them. May 12, 2018 · Hi there, I created a spreadsheet in Excel 2010. Elevate your spreadsheet skills with us! Oct 22, 2015 · I want to print my excel document, it has box border, but I can't see them on print preview and when I print the document, borders are not printed. Whether you’re managing a to-do list, creating a form, or setting up a tracker, checkboxes can make your data more dynamic and easy to manage. To correct the problem I will often have to close the Microsoft Excel might show ##### in cells when a column isn’t wide enough to show all of the cell contents. Jun 2, 2017 · In Excel, whenever I paste something a little box like this shows up: The only way I can get rid of it is to find an empty cell, select it, and hit enter or backspace or type into it. They are NOT restricted to cells: that is, they might cover half the E column, all the F, and half the G. The problem I have is the sheets cells will randomly turn black. To get the latest update immediately, open Word and choose File > Account > Update Options > Update Now. While typing in one cell, occasionally another cell will turn black. I am able to highlight cells in t Feb 9, 2023 · Several users are having this issue on different Excel Workbooks. On Nov 8, 2021 · An Excel file that I have used and updated for 5+ years, all of a sudden has this strange box, that I can not click on, but always shows the most recent typed data in it. Alternatively, you can select the entire Dec 20, 2023 · The boxes make the file extremely slow and huge (5MB), and they CANNOT be deleted - they always reappear after deleting. If it works fine in safe mode, please check the add-ins in your excel and disable them. I have occasionally seen it appear in Word as well. There is a multiple check boxes, as well as one image. This guide explores why they appear and walks you through several practical solutions to remove these lingering objects once and for all. I have even opened a new sheet and it just shows up. I am not able to delete it or type on the cells behind it. But don’t worry, we’re here to shed some light on how to resolve this issue once Apr 6, 2023 · Odd box showing up in this excel file on every worksheet I cannot see to get rid of this box that just showed up randomly. They are letter combinations (with black background) beside each Word doc. The users reported that the issue happens when they are docked or undocked but I have Aug 27, 2017 · When using Excel, black marks seem to appear at random as I use the worksheet. I'm using an external display but it is not 4k. Your screen may look similar to this: Solution Trying performing an Online Repair of Office by following the steps in Repair an Office application. Black color + format border shows square with all sides of square showing. Tried to reset Chrome but no luke. If a user is believed to have used such tools to provide a forum answer, sanctions may be imposed. Dec 11, 2017 · Somehow I managed to turn on annoying tips or shortcuts on the Word and Excel print screen. Dec 22, 2020 · 32-bit Outlook displays black boxes, white boxes and/or blank content Learn more about graphics issues in 32-bit Microsoft Outlook 2013 and 2016 (including the Office 365 versions), including blank boxes, blank email content and/or a blank navigation tree. u/Falcon9857 is right. And yes, it is a combobox, but it has no name so you cannot delete it programmatically or select it as an object. Jan 15, 2023 · Hidden dialog box keeps Excel from operating properly. To do that: 1. I have tried to click, it and cannot. If that doesn't work, please click the Contact us link below. However, the screen works normally and correctly with all other apps, except when Aug 20, 2016 · Hello, There is a Black Box that shows up in excel worksheet. I have encountered that in one report, a black line appears always when printing. It is showing up in all tabs. Sometimes it will only be a few rows and others it will be the entire sheet. Jan 14, 2016 · The combobox will not appear on the first sheet. Copy the "box" from within a cell. Same behaviour in Firefox, Edge, and Chrome. Mar 24, 2025 · Or just a certain file? Does your issue only appear in Excel, but not in any other Office apps? (For example, does Word has a fully black background issue?) If all of your Excel sheet's cells all turn black, it's likely due to accidental formatting. Dec 8, 2008 · I'm using AutoCAD 2008 and Excel 2007. - The check boxes were added through Developer > Insert > Form Controls, and I made sure to right click and select Form Control Jan 31, 2020 · Deleting surrounding rows or columns does not affect the box, so it doesn't appear to be correlated to a specific cell. 20174) or later. Dec 11, 2024 · How to FIX: Microsoft Excel opens a blank document in any Excel file. Jul 19, 2016 · Re: Random drop down box appear on sheets? It looks like this is a bug in Excel 2016 to do with saving a workbook with a data validation cell selected (some reports in Answers suggest you need to have more than one sheet selected to trigger it). I tried to follow instructions from Year 2022 questions but I can't even find an File - Options - Advanced let alone Re: Mysterious boxes appearing on screen whenever I open excel When you say "whenever I open Excel" do you mean that particular workbook or just any Excel workbook? Feb 20, 2025 · Have you ever found yourself staring at a spreadsheet in Excel, wondering why it looks like you’re peering into the abyss of a black hole instead of the organized data heaven you envisioned? You’re not alone. So somehow it appears to be specific to his computer. However it seems that the comments are being moved around… Oct 16, 2020 · Osten24 Can't explain why the "boxes" appear, but can perhaps help get rid of them. How To Fix Transparent Rectangle Box Appears Above The Taskbar In Windows 11 Screen - Solved Many users noticed a translucent box on their screen (just above the taskbar) while using a Windows 11 Nov 5, 2023 · Hi Support, I am using Excel 2013. There are multiple ways to troubleshoot this such as, double-clicking the right edge of the column header, or draging it to the width you want. I've tried alt-tabbing the dialog does not show up. Whenever the user is using any of the 0365 programs, like Word, Outlook, Excel, any of them, She randomly has black boxes appear within the application to the point wh… Aug 26, 2015 · Objects appear as black boxes when printing a PDF from Excel Asked 12 years, 3 months ago Modified 10 years ago Viewed 12k times I have an extensive spreadsheet with several columns and all showing borders where each cell/column begins and ends. But when I plot to PDF my spreadsheet is a black box. Instead, it opens a blank screen with the buttons grayed out. I repaired/reinstalled Office, ran all firmware updates, turned off hardware acceleration, and even contacted O365 support but they were not able to solve the problem either. That black square has disappeared. if you click on cell A1, you normally get a black square surrounding the cell A1 to let you know that you are on it. However there are a few cells where the break with the next cell does not show the line. The issues is that when i am using excel some boxes are appearing automatically and excel are getting freeze for 10 minutes and not able to enter the values in the excel sheet. Jun 3, 2024 · If you see an empty or blank dialog box with no text in Windows 11/10, then here are the steps you need to carry out to resolve the issue. I did have a similar problem just a few weeks ago. First, I thought that my laptop screen was broken down. This isn't the screen's fault, I have tried using different… Aug 6, 2024 · A few of our users are unable to see checkboxes in Excel Online and instead see True or False instead. Thanks. Dec 22, 2020 · Hi All, I’ve got a rather odd problem with a user. Though I can see the content in formulae bar while typing, but it's still inconvenient to keep my eyes there all the times. The problem is I was left with these little boxes in the upper left corner of some cells, and I can't figure out how to remove them. It appeared during excel running. Press "Replace all", OK and Close. When I return to Excel, I notice the white letters with black background on the top left corner of the attached spreadsheet. I was actually trying to insert a Sep 5, 2017 · Excel showing black stripes and boxes Ask Question Asked 8 years, 2 months ago Modified 8 years, 1 month ago Sep 6, 2023 · Hi, Did this problem appear in all Workbooks or specific Workbook? Did the Workbook contain macro or many formulas? I suggest you try to open open it in safe mode running the following command: Press Win + R, type "excel /safe" in the blank box, press Enter. If so. You double-click on an Excel file, but Excel doesn't open the file. This happened when […] Jan 20, 2017 · When in Excel 2016 using Windows 10, grey and black boxes appear as I navigate data in each tab of my excel spreadsheet. To fix it I ran the windows repair tool. However, one common issue that users often encounter is the appearance of annoying grey borders around cells. The more I use the spreadsheet, the worse the marks get. The problem is that every now and then a collection of black squares / grid appears on my screen for a fraction of a second. For the best help attach a sample workbook to your post Attention - ExcelForum Rules have been updated as of August 2023. They just appear. Open Excel in safe mode: Press Windows key and R key to open Run dialog box then open Excel by typing Excel /safe Nov 29, 2023 · While trying to write anything in an excel file, the cell appears as black making it difficult to see what I'm typing. When inserting more rows, the box moves along with the rows and cannot be rem Jan 20, 2017 · When in Excel 2016 using Windows 10, grey and black boxes appear as I navigate data in each tab of my excel spreadsheet. Jun 7, 2023 · There is a small blank white box, like a text box, appearing in my workbook. Page margins are narrow enough, Page Layout tab Sep 14, 2012 · The use of AI tools (e. Nov 26, 2015 · Hi Experts I have create a questionnaire in Excel showing or hiding rows based on the answers. This issue typically involves text in Middle East or Asian languages (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, etc. So for a few years now and ONLY on the desktop computer I use, whenever I type in any Microsoft product (or at least Word and Excel), a black box appears. It is like black sections flashing on the screen. The weird thing is that when we run it on other computers in the office we don't get the squares. These boxes can be distracting and make your data look cluttered and unprofessional. For instance, just double clicking on a cell and clicking off it the cell will then have a black lines around it. Then, just as randomly, I'll minimize something and it will clear up for a while before starting off again. It seems to be a "touch handle", des *REPOSTED - previous title was not sufficient Okay, whenever I try and copy and paste data between sheets, this strange pattern keeps appearing. The problem is on preview, pdf and when printed they appear in black. It will appear in the selected cells in the subsequent sheets of the workbook (whether that is one sheet or several). These rules apply to everyone for the benefit of all, please take a moment now to Nov 11, 2012 · Hi, I have a sheet which is drawing data from two external sources. It is across all my worksheets in this book (11 tabs), and I can not figure what I did to create it. In this article, we will explore a quick and straightforward solution to help you get rid of these grey Sep 7, 2023 · I have a rectangle checkbox next to a product line item. What's the solution to get rid of these Hi all, I’m using Excel 365 on a windows 10 Lenovo Yoga 9 that has a 4K screen, and when I switch tabs large sections of my screen are covered in grey boxes that cover the cells. Used to happen rarely, now daily. Nov 15, 2023 · That incredibly small green box that sits on the bottom-right of the select cell (s) is the, you guessed it, Fill Handle. Oct 2, 2022 · Dear Microsoft Office Team, When I open and add data to an Excel sheet, the screen goes black partially (in some parts) and intermittently. They appear for a split second then disappear. Clicking on a cell will often make the problem worse. May 26, 2025 · Seeing black boxes in your PDFs? Learn how to fix font issues, remove blocks, and optimize files with Smallpdf's tools. Jun 25, 2025 · Offers resolutions to an issue where you see a blank screen when you try to open an Excel workbook by double-clicking its icon or file name. The problem is that I can’t always work online, and the insert checkbox option is no longer available in the desktop version. So far, I can SAVE and Sep 16, 2023 · Encountering black screens in Microsoft Excel can be frustrating. Aug 15, 2015 · I know that there must be a simple solution to this, but I don't even know what the box is called so I couldn't find the right answer on google. e. There is no context sensitive help when in the box and almost all normal excel functions are greyed out when I'm in it. After 10 minutes, all boxes are disappear… Feb 17, 2020 · A black circle is appearing under the cursor when I type something inside an Excel cell (see picture below). It happens to a variety of apps, such as Excel or… May 7, 2025 · I've noticed that when I open the same files in Excel Online, the checkboxes still appear and function as expected. I guess it is an excel bug Apr 27, 2025 · Hello, everyone. Was working away on one of my spreadsheets and the black square that surrounds the cell you click on has vanished. Select the View tab and click the Unhide option if active. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to resolve this issue and restore your Excel sheets to their normal state. They all show up fine while I'm working on the sheet, but when I go to print/print preview they aren't there. Apr 18, 2007 · Hi all, I have a problem with random text boxes appearing when selecting certain areas of a work sheet. More window opened - bigger grey area. Not sure what file was corrupt, but after the repair excel ran fine. Here's how to fix it: Press Ctrl + A (Windows) to select the entire sheet. ). Please see a screenshot of it below. Under some circumstances I think Ican hit escape. I have tried the print gridlines but nothing seems to be working. All kinds of patterns and sizes. ) Today I saw a first: it covered part of the letter ABOVE the column. When formula bar disabled - grey screen disappears. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling Dec 16, 2020 · As a developer, I develop Excel documents from scratch from XML data. Note, Excel might also show ##### due to the cell having a On a Windows computer, when using Microsoft Office programs (such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. (Those are estimates. Feb 22, 2010 · I am a very advanced Excel user so this is a new one for me. However it seems that the comments are being moved around… When I right click on things in excel every now and then this black/white circle appears. Method 1. Tried saving as PDF and not there also. I assume there is some code/driver failure within the copy function? I have no idea where it's coming from, but it only seems to appear when I I copy and paste data over different sheets in the same workbook, and I have no idea how to fix it. Many Excel users encounter this mysterious black background issue, and it can be a real headache. This cannot be removed by right clicking. Get expert tips, ask questions, and share your love for all things Excel. ) some of the selected Office application windows do not display correctly, are unreadable, or the entire monitor goes black. The boxes go away when I zoom in and out of the sheet. I have tried reinstalling excel, wiping my pc (unrelated to excel but still didn’t work) and searching up any settings that could’ve done this but I haven’t been able to fix it. Once file is open in Excel online, click Editing and select Open in Desktop app from dropdown. Any thoughts on how Nov 17, 2015 · Could someone please helpK I am putting together a spreadsheet which uses alot of check boxes. It is Feb 22, 2019 · This issue is fixed in Current Channel Version 1901 (Build 11231. If I ignore them they go away. Already tried to reinstall Microsoft Office - did not helped. Keyboard shortcuts of some type. I've tried doing an online repair… Black lines appearing around cells randomly I've been having a problem where if I double click a cell, or type anything in it, random thick black lines appear around the box and sometimes the entire row/column once I leave. Sometimes, when you attempt to open an Excel file, Excel does not open it but opens to a blank gray screen, as in the example below. I can't even "click it to delete it" Any ideas? Symptoms When running certain apps on Windows 10 desktop or Windows 10 Mobile, some characters display as a square or rectangular box, or as a box with a dot, question mark or “x” inside, while the same app running on earlier Windows or Windows Phone versions did not have this problem. I have Apr 4, 2021 · In the 'Lotus compatibility' section, clear the box 'Microsoft Excel menu key'. The problem happens when Excel window is maximized or restored. It is annoying and… Open Excel: Start by opening the Excel workbook where you are experiencing the issue. This morning the letters that he generates started having a little square box everytime that the code has a vbCrLf. Introduction When working with Excel, you may have encountered the frustrating issue of boxes or borders appearing around cells in your spreadsheet. Jul 17, 2012 · The letter is generated in Excel, in the Appraisal Log workbook. Thanks in advance for any help! I have a worksheet that I am not able to see notes on when I hover over the cell, they just show up as a line as… May 27, 2025 · Seeing squares or boxes instead of text in your PDF? Learn why custom fonts cause issues and use Smallpdf tools to fix your file fast. The cells where the checkboxes were present now show False and True. I have updated all graphic drivers on my laptop. Mar 13, 2023 · Have an employee working in Excel and they get a circle with at black box around it appearing in the sheets randomly. When I try to shut Excel down using the task manager since close it normaly I get a dialog box stating "You cannot close Microsft Exel… Jan 4, 2013 · Cell highlighting box has disappeared. g. Oct 5, 2017 · All of a sudden when I opened the spreadsheet today, it creates black boxes in a variety of different scenarios: When I enter something into a cell then hit tab to go to the next cell, it creates a black row. Not all users, but at least two have this issue while others see Checkboxes. If I hover over anything in the box, nothing pops u Feb 11, 2025 · Open the workbook in the Excel desktop app - cell B1 shows TRUE / FALSE correctly (whether you toggle the checkbox in the browser or the app). Select the Affected Cells: Click and drag to select the cells that are showing a black background while entering data. Sometimes when I scroll up & down black boxes appear & disappear. Apr 2, 2023 · Microsoft Excel started showing an outline around the formula bar, when you are editing a formula in the formula bar. I have tried the following to no avail: Disabled hardware acceleration High DPI override to Application, System and System Enhanced Reducing my screen Hello, I started to have an issue - the Grey field started appearing when opening excel documents and enabling formula bar (can not be minimized). The checkbox appears on print preview but posts a dot or period on the printed copy. Likewise when I 'select all' the sheet does not become shaded. Press Ctrl- H (Find and replace). Select all cells. Jan 27, 2024 · Black squares keep appearing on my screen. I am using it on a MAC Regards Alan Apr 5, 2024 · Strange Dots appearing on screen So this is strange in my attached sample workbook, there are dots on lines B13 and B16 and they repeat 9 rows for entire workbook. Here are a screen shots in the the attached file. I have highlighed the cell in question, gone to format/cell/borders and everything looks fine. z9fqi 0e yoi6 vx 2h9 15wdf1 mpbzngna cjjrta0 9zw7 nfjnvt