Remove the background grid from Word

Q Every time I open a saved document or create a new one in Word, there is a grid behind the text. It makes the text hard to read. Is there a way to remove this?

Derek Willis

A It is possible to set a background to a Word document and it sounds like this background has been added to your default document template, which is why it appears in the new documents you are creating.

To remove this, you will need to edit the default template. As this is stored in a hidden folder, there is a quick change to make to Windows first.

Click on the Start button and then on My Computer. Click on the Tools menu and then on Folder options. Click on the View tab and then on the option 'Show hidden files and folders'. Click OK and then close the Windows Explorer window.

Start Word, left-click on the File and then on Open. Select Document Templates in the Files of Type menu at the bottom of the Open dialogue box.

Left-click on My Computer in the left-hand column and then on C:, Documents and Settings (Users in Windows Vista), your username, Application Data, Microsoft and Templates. Double-click on Normal.dot to open it.

To remove the background, click on the Format menu, Background and then No Fill. Press Ctrl and S together to save the changes and then close the Normal Template.

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