I have an existing document that has a header. But when I open the document in Word, I cannot see the header, nor edit it. I only see the header when I am in print preview or in Full Screen Reading mode.



The Navigation panel even states that "this document does not contain headings." But yet, when I print the document, they are there.

I believe you have eliminated the space between pages in the view, that's all; it's an easy mistake to make. Move your cursor over the top of the page till it turns to a double arrow in a white box and double-click.

By the way, headings and headers are not the same. The header and footer are special areas of the document; headings are paragraphs introducing or highlighting new material, as in headlines, subheads, etc.

I googled the problem earlier and found that solution. It didn't work. Nor did checking the "show white space" box in options. I also tried double clicking in the header or footer, still nothing visible except when in print preview or full screen reading.

Only paragraphs with an "Outline level" other than "Body Text" (Paragraph dialog box) will show up in the Navigation pane. The easiest way to format heading text in your document is to apply the built-in heading styles, called Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. in English versions of Word.

Note that if you apply a heading style to a header (or footer) paragraph, it won't show up in the Navigation pane.

In general, when text doesn't show up in the document but you can see it in Print Preview, the text may be formatted as hidden (Font dialog box) and you have the option to print hidden text selected at File tab | Options | Display.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thanks, but headings aren't the problem. Not being able to see or edit the information in the header is. I can only see the headers in print preview or full screen reading. Neither of which let me edit the headers.

See if text is formatted as hidden, as I also suggested in my previous reply.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I don't think that is the problem as some of my coworkers can see the text, and others cannot, when I email them the file. It is probably a setting somewhere, but which?

BTW, there are also graphics in the header that I can't see or edit either. As with the text, they only show up in reader or print preview.

There is an option to show/hide hidden text, and there is a separate option for printing/not printing it. Both of these are in the Display category of File | Options.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

See http://wordfaqs.mvps.org/invisiblegraphics.htm.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I tried that. It didn't work :-(

Are you allowed to share the file? You can post an attachment here (of course, you should delete any sensitive information from the example file).

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional