White PAGES

First set the document text to Automatic/black; if the text remains invisible in both Word and Excel, test Office’s display rendering in Safe Mode and then repair Microsoft 365.

1. Reset the text color

This is the quickest check for white text displayed on a white page.

In Word

1. Open the affected document.
2. Press Ctrl+A to select all text.
3. Go to Home → Font Color ▼.
4. Select Automatic or Black. Microsoft documents this control under the Home tab’s Font group.^1^

In Excel

1. Open the workbook.
2. Click the triangle at the upper-left intersection of the row and column headings to select the entire sheet.
3. Go to Home → Font Color ▼.
4. Select Automatic or Black.^2^

If this restores the content only in particular files, save those files afterward. If every document and workbook is affected, continue below.

2. Test Word and Excel in Office Safe Mode

Safe Mode bypasses add-ins and several custom settings, which helps distinguish a file-formatting issue from an Office display problem.^3^

1. Close Word and Excel.
2. Press Windows key+R.
3. Enter:
   • winword /safe for Word
   • excel /safe for Excel
4. Open an affected file.

If the content appears in Safe Mode, disable add-ins in the normally started application:

1. Go to File → Options → Add-ins.
2. At the bottom, select COM Add-ins → Go.
3. Clear the add-in checkboxes and restart the application normally.
4. Re-enable add-ins individually until the display problem returns.

3. Check graphics rendering conditionally

If Safe Mode does not help, check Device Manager → Display adapters. Microsoft documents display failures with certain older Intel graphics drivers and Nvidia Optimus configurations.^4^

If your Office version displays the option:

1. Open Word or Excel.
2. Select File → Options → Advanced.
3. Find the Display section.
4. Select Disable hardware graphics acceleration.
5. Select OK, close all Office applications, and reopen the files.

For the documented affected Intel driver condition, updating the graphics driver is preferred; the acceleration setting is a workaround when the driver or Office cannot be updated.

4. Repair Microsoft 365

If the blank white document area persists in both applications:

1. Close all Office applications.
2. Right-click Start.
3. On Windows 11, select Installed apps; on Windows 10, select Apps and Features.
4. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
5. Select … → Modify.
6. Choose Online Repair → Repair.
7. Restart Windows when complete.

Online Repair repairs the entire Office suite, including Word and Excel.^5^

References

1. Change the font color in a Word document
2. Change the color of text | Microsoft Support
3. Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC | Microsoft Support
4. Some Office applications are not responding
5. Repair an Office application | Microsoft Support