What is this formatting box with word spaces?

Question

What is this formatting box with word spaces?

Liz H 20

Space box

Could someone tell me what this box just above '[CN]Chapter' is please? I get sent Word docs from publishers and sometimes these crop up. They're easy to get rid of but they're a pain, and I don't know what they are, or how to describe them!

Thank you

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Answer 1

Stefan Blom 325K MVP Volunteer Moderator

I am repeating your screen shot below (trying to make it a little larger). Are you referring to the little gray object that the arrow points to? To me, it looks like a content control. Try right-clicking it and see if there is an option to delete the control. If not, make a copy of the document using File > Save As > Browse and choose to save the copy in Word 97–2003 format (*.doc). This would remove all content controls, but leaving the document content intact.

Skärmavbild 2025-07-24 kl. 18.59.32

Liz H 20 Reputation points

2025-07-25T09:07:05.41+00:00

Thanks, Stefan! Yes, it is that little grey box. There was a content control option so I clicked to remove it. So is this to do with format, then?
Stefan Blom 325K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-07-25T09:51:16.33+00:00

Thanks for the follow-up. Content controls are a type of placeholders, introduced with the *.docx format. They can be used to display and/or add info, and they are often in templates. At a guess, this particular one is from a template you or someone else once used.
Liz H 20 Reputation points

2025-07-25T10:21:08.74+00:00

Ah, thank you! That's great. I have had work from this copy editor before, so there's a good chance it's in her template. Thank you very much.
Stefan Blom 325K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2025-07-25T10:22:26.7466667+00:00

I'm glad I could help. :-)

Answer 2

DaveM121 818K Independent Advisor

I just noticed Suzanne S. Barnhill has provided a great possible explanation above, she is one of the most competent MS Word experts available on the forums.

Answer 3

DaveM121 818K Independent Advisor

Have you tried contacting the publisher to ask them what process they may have performed in that document that created that box.

Liz H 20 Reputation points

2025-07-24T14:29:57.2766667+00:00

No, but it could be related to the copy editor or the author. The c/e will make their changes, the author will accept/reject the changes, and then it comes to me. I don't think (in this case) the publisher does much to it apart from accepting the changes.

Answer 4

DaveM121 818K Independent Advisor

That is the most likely cause of the boxes.

Liz H 20 Reputation points

2025-07-24T15:08:20.4833333+00:00

But that brings me back to my original question: what are they? What do they signify, and why do they appear? Is it just a glitch?

Thank you for all your help.

Answer 5

DaveM121 818K Independent Advisor

I have never seen that box previously and Suzanne who is a most experienced Word expert also has not seen that previously, it is a complete mystery,

Liz H 20 Reputation points

2025-07-24T15:27:00.5366667+00:00

Oh how strange! Never mind, and again, thank you - both - for your help.

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What is this formatting box with word spaces?

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