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Word is not displaying some equations

Anonymous
2022-10-07T16:23:43+00:00

Hi, everyone

My colleague sent me a word document that he was working with in order for us to publish a paper. He uses Microsoft Windows and I use an iMac with macOS Monterey (v.12.5.1). When he sent the document, I opened and I couldn't see some equations. He also uses a Microsoft Word 365. He types the equations using Unicode. I don't understand because some equations I can see and edit, others don't even show.

This is how it shows to me (iMac):

And this is how it shows for my colleague (Windows):

So, if someone faced a similar problem or knows what to do, please help me with this, because this is not the first time this happened.

P.s.: I thought that it would be a font problem, but I installed Cambria Math in my mac and it didn't work.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | MacOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-10-09T14:09:35+00:00

    Hi, Jim

    Thank you for your help and the compliment :)

    I just sent the feedback. I will keep you and the community up-to-date with this problem if they find a solution.

    Also, I think it is important to see the conclusion of this problem because more people can be experiencing or will experience the same issue.

    Greetings,

    Isa

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-10-08T00:25:12+00:00

    Hi, Jim

    Thanks for the response.

    Exactly. The response from the agent really didn't make sense because I am opening the document in the macOs.

    However, I also tried the option font substitution and the following dialog box showed: "No font substitution is necessary. All fonts used in this document are available".

    One thing that I also tried was to view the document on Outline and Draft views and it started to show the equations. But in Print Layout, the problem continues.

    I also tried the print part of the preferences menu and it didn't help.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-10-07T17:01:49+00:00

    Hi Isa R,

    I’m Gunasekar and will be happy to help you with your question.

    The 'empty boxes' behavior is a feature in Microsoft Word called "Picture (or Image) Placeholders" designed to conserve RAM. The Picture Placeholders option helps minimize the number of computer resources required to display a page and helps Word scroll multiple pages faster on-screen. So long as your computer does not have insufficient RAM, you can toggle this setting so the equations in your document display on-screen.

    1. Open Microsoft word.
    2. select Office button >> Word options >> Show document content. file tab >> Options >> Advanced >> Show document content.
    3. Uncheck the box that says "Placeholders or Picture placeholders.
    4. Press Ok.

    Also, Under field shading, select never from the pull-down menu. You will get these features in the "options" tab.

    We appreciate your understanding that sometimes the initial suggestions may not resolve the problem very soon.

    I hope this information helps. If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll be glad to assist you further.

    Best regards Gunasekar N

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-10-08T00:04:45+00:00

    Hello, Gunasekar

    Thanks for the response.

    But I am working on mac and I didn't find any option "Placeholders or Picture placeholders". One thing that I discovered was that while the document is in outline view, the equations can be seen. So the problem must be in print layout view, however I couldn't find any option similar to the one you described.

    ![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/1646482a-c5ef-431f-82b8-7fe5ed2e1fd3?platform=QnA

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  5. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2022-10-07T18:48:52+00:00

    Hi Isa,

    The agents and advisors have gone bonkers. There is no way you follow that crazy advice because you are using Office for Mac, which you clearly stated plus you posted to the Office for Mac forum. I do not know why the advisors and agents are ALL assuming the world is using nothing but Microsoft Windows. It's insulting to Mac users.

    Your document is not showing picture placeholders, so I don't know what the Advisor is thinking.

    I think your first hunch is correct. Microsoft Word on your Mac does not have the exact same font and version of that font as the computer which created the file. There is a tool that you can use to check for this. Use the Menu Bar and choose Format > Font Substitution. In the resulting dialog, you can choose which fonts to use to replace fonts you don't have. It appears that there may be more than one font being used to generate the equations, or that the version of the font that's on your Mac is different from the one that was used - even if it has the same name.

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