WD: "Blue Background, White Text" Option Makes Text Disappear

Black text on a white background may become invisible when the "Blue background, white text" option is selected. For example, this problem may occur when you have text typed in a text box.

The text is visible in print preview but not in normal or page layout views; however, the text prints correctly, as shown in print preview.

By default, the background shading of text boxes is white. When the "Blue background, white text" option is selected, text contained in a text box is also displayed as white, therefore the text is not visible against the white background.

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods:

Clear the "Blue Background, White Text" Option

1. On the Tools menu, click Options. (Or, in Word 98 Macintosh Edition, click Preferences).
2. On the General tab, click to clear the "Blue background, white text" check box.
3. Click OK.

Change the Font Color to Black

To use a font color other than white, follow these steps:

1. Select the text that is not visible in "Blue background, white text" mode.
2. On the Format menu, choose Font.
3. On the Color list, select Black (instead of Auto).

The "Blue background, white text" option changes the background color of the document to blue and changes the text color to white. Some users find this setting to be easier to read than the default setting (black text on a white background).

In addition, if you click the General tab in the Options dialog box on the Tools menu and select the "Blue background, white text" option, you may have difficulty seeing the green underlining for items flagged as grammar issues.

For more information about the blue background with white text feature, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: