power point extra box issue

Question

l need help with PowerPoint slide. I have a faint grey rectangular box behind and surrounding my text information in the slide. I hit something bu accident and it has put this extra box in. Also it is causing the first letter of the first word of the text to indent. All other slides are ok.

Answer 1

Hi, Roddy Tarter

This usually happens when a text effect, pasted formatting, or a hidden object got applied to that one text area. Since the other slides are fine, it is probably only on that slide, not a problem with the whole presentation.

Besides the solutions provided by the Q&A Assist, here are some suggestions you can try:

If it only just happened, press Ctrl + Z once or twice. That is the easiest fix if PowerPoint still remembers the accidental change.

Select the affected text, then go to Home and choose Clear All Formatting. It is recommended that you try this because it can remove odd pasted formatting, text shading, and strange indents without needing to find the exact setting.

With the text selected, check Shape Format or Format, then look under Text Effects > Shadow and choose No Shadow. Also check Shape Effects > Shadow > No Shadow if the shadow is attached to the text box rather than the letters.

Open Home > Select > Selection Pane. If there is a separate rectangle or shadow object sitting behind the text, it should show in that list. You can hide it first using the eye icon to confirm it is the right object, then delete it.

If this is a normal layout slide, select the slide thumbnail on the left and choose Home > Reset. This can restore the slide placeholder formatting, but save a copy first in case you have custom positioning on that slide.

If the text came from another source, paste it again using Keep Text Only. This often clears hidden background/shadow formatting.

Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

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Answer 2

The grey rectangular box and the unexpected indent are most likely caused by the text being inside a shape or text box whose formatting was changed.

To remove or adjust the grey box:

1. Click once on the text. If a border appears around it, that text is inside a shape or text box.
2. Click the border of that shape/text box (not the text itself).
3. Press Delete to remove the entire box (and re‑type the text directly on the slide or in a new placeholder), or:
   • Right‑click the border and select Format Shape.
   • In the Format Shape pane, check Fill and Line settings and set them to No fill and No line to remove the grey background and border.

To fix the first-letter indent:

1. Select the affected paragraph.
2. Go to Home > in the Paragraph group, click the small dialog launcher (bottom-right corner).
3. Under Indentation, set Before text back to 0" (or the same value as other slides).
4. In the Special box, choose (none) if First line or Hanging is selected.
5. Click OK.

If the text is in a placeholder that’s too tight, also check the text box margins:

1. Right‑click the border of the shape/text box.
2. Select Format Shape.
3. In Size/Layout & Properties > Text Box, adjust the Left margin so it matches other slides.

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References:

• Set text direction and position in a shape or text box in PowerPoint
• Adjust indents in paragraph text in PowerPoint
• Change text alignment, indentation, and spacing in PowerPoint
• Add bullets or numbers to text