Images in Word document "shift down" when using Web Layout view

Question

I'm using Word Student 2016. Suddenly, Word has started shifting all the images in my document down about an inch when I use the Web Layout view. I'm not sure what's happening.

Here's a screenshot of Print Layout view. I want it to look this way -- text above and below the image.

But in Web Layout view, the image is shifted down about an inch, and part of it is covered up by the text.

This is the "in line with text" option. It seems that Word thinks the image is in the right place. When I click on the image, the gray box that's highlighted is where the image should be in the document. But for some reason the image is just displaying about an inch too low. See below:

I've tried changing the image text wrap options, no success. I've tried opening and closing Word, no success. I tried restarting, no success. The worst part is that Word is now doing this in ALL my documents, even old documents I haven't edited in a long time.

Thank you for your help!

Answer 1

Here's an update for anyone who stumbles upon this:

• Using Office Repair sadly did not work.
• I discovered that saving in 97-2003 mode works, but you lose equations and other nice features of docx.
• This seems this may be a bug with Word's graphics rendering in Web Layout, based on discussions I've seen in other forums.
• It seems that this is not a new issue -- here's a link to a prior discussion, where the only thing that worked was saving as .doc rather than .docx (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/pictures-not-visible-in-document-when-viewed-in/eb89d7d9-5254-459a-a3d6-8f265647ae58)
• I'll eventually try uninstalling and reinstalling Office, but don't have the time to do that now.
• for anyone trying to identify or fix the issue, here are two facts that might be helpful

1. the problem gets worse the farther down the image is in the document. Images near the top render fine, then gradually get worse (again, only in web layout).
2. the problem started all of the sudden, and my guess is that it may have been triggered by a long document with lots of pictures. The document is 60 pages and has about 100 images. I'm wondering if I added one that finally was the straw that broke the camel's back and crashed the rendering. As I mentioned earlier, Web Layout is now displaying old documents incorrectly that were previously displayed properly.

Hope this is helpful

Answer 2

Thanks for the update to Sherie's suggestion. Yes, you're right. Since repair didn't work, uninstalling and reinstalling the application might resolve this. Once you have the time, you may try it and update us with the outcome. I admire the way you provided the possible cause and fix of the concern, this will be helpful to other community member. 

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Answer 3

Actually, feel free to disregard that question ... I realize it's unrelated. Thanks for your help : )

Answer 4

Thank you so much, Sherry! I might try that. As a quick follow up, is there an easy way to back up things I've customized about Word? I have literally hundreds of keyboard shortcuts, autocorrect replacements, and macros that I have customized. I'd hate to lose them on a return to word's original state. Thanks!

Answer 5

Hello,

There might be a possibility that this is an issue with the document or the application itself. Since you already tried changing the image wrap options and restarting the application but still getting the same issue with all the documents, I would suggest that you try to Repair the Office Application. This would help Word application to go back on its original State. Also, if possible, kindly provide the exact build and version of the Word application you are using. 

If you would like me to provide additional advice, simply respond to this thread. I will get notified and I’ll reply to you as soon as I can. 

Regards