Making Text Boxes Appear in a Printout

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 8, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Cathy has a document that includes text boxes that (amazingly enough) contain text. She can see them on her screen, but if she does a print preview or actually prints the document, the text boxes do not appear. Cathy wonders why this happens and how she can see the text boxes in her printout.

When you add a text box to your document, that text box is placed on what Microsoft calls a drawing layer. This simply means it is handled differently than the regular text in your document, and you can control whether it is printed or not. The drawing layer contains not just text boxes, but other shapes you may add to your document. It can also contain images (pictures) that are not placed in the document as inline images.

To make sure that items on the drawing layer print, follow these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or a later version, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left side of the dialog box, click Display.
Make sure the Print Drawings Created in Word check box is selected.
Click on OK.

Now, you should be able to print as normal and the text boxes (and other items) should be included in your printout.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12736) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using the Style Area

The style area is an esoteric feature of Word that allows you to easily see the styles applied to the paragraphs in your ...

Discover More

External Data Validation

When using data validation, you may want to reference a list of validation criteria contained on a different worksheet. ...

Discover More

Converting Words into Numbers

Sometimes you need to spell-out numbers in a document. When you have spelled-out numbers, at some point you might want to ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Columns within Text Boxes

When creating a layout for your document, you might use text boxes to position text in specific places. If you want those ...

Discover More

Removing Text Boxes but Saving the Text

Text boxes can be handy when it comes to noting information in a document or dealing with some tricky layout issues. If ...

Discover More

Wrapping Text around a Graphic in a Text Box

Word allows you to wrap text around a graphic or around a text box, but it won't allow you to wrap text in a text box ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 8 - 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.