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"Background" text cannot be removed

Anonymous
2024-07-03T16:45:00+00:00

I have a Word document and on the first page, there is what looks like a watermark but it cannot be removed. It is not in the middle of the page but more towards the bottom and much smaller than a normal watermark but it does have the usual watermark text of Draft and the date. I have tried delete Watermark, even tried delete objects and nothing works. The first page does have other text on it. Some of the text is in a box and when I click on it, the Shape Format menu appears at the top. I've looked at all the choices there and nothing jumps out at me. I have also deleted the page and inserted a new blank page and the damn text is there again on the blank page! Driving me absolutely crazy.

I've attached a pic and hopefully you can see the text. Any help would be much appreciated!!

Thank you.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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  1. Stefan Blom 338.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-03T18:07:11+00:00

    I'm glad you got it sorted.

    Indeed, actually finding and selecting an object which is anchored to the header might be tricky at times.

    The Selection Pane might help. To display it, go to the Home tab; in the Editing group, click Select, and then click Selection Pane.

    You still have to activate the header/footer as discussed earlier.

    In the example below, you will see the object name in the pane and you can click it to select the corresponding object which is anchored to the header.

    Note the anchor in the header paragraph. To see it when the object is selected, click the ¶ icon on the Home tab.

    Image

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  1. Stefan Blom 338.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-03T17:16:33+00:00

    The screen shot shows just fine now. Thanks.

    It does look like some sort of a watermark. A watermark is nothing more than an object anchored to the page header, meaning that you should be able to delete it.

    Note that the version of Word is crucial here.

    For example, if you are running the web browser version, you can certainly activate the header, but you can't necessarily access all of its content.

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  1. Stefan Blom 338.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-05T16:49:50+00:00

    You are welcome.

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  2. Stefan Blom 338.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-03T16:54:34+00:00

    Double-click the header area to activate the header/footer view. See if you can now select the watermark. Press the Delete key.

    P.S. Your screen shot did not upload successfully. Many users report that they have to add the screen shot in a reply (not in the original message).

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-07-03T17:02:28+00:00

    Thanks for your reply. I tried that also. The whatever it is cannot be selected as far as I have found.

    I am adding the screenshot again and hopefully you can see it now. T

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