Office Performance Issues

How to Fix Black Bars When Scrolling in Microsoft Word

Tauseeq Magsi Oct 16, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user experiences black horizontal or vertical bars appearing on the screen when scrolling through documents in Microsoft Word.

How to Fix Black Bars When Scrolling in Microsoft Word

Product: Microsoft Word (2019, 2021)
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Scrolling through a document during standard editing or reading in Microsoft Word.
Observed behavior: Black graphical bars glitch and appear on the screen during scrolling, even though other Office applications continue to function normally.

Before you start

Save your current documents and close any unnecessary programs, as troubleshooting graphics issues will require you to restart Microsoft Word and your computer.

Solution 1Recommended

Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration in Word

Turning off hardware acceleration prevents the graphics card from interfering with Word's rendering process, which often resolves display glitches like black bars.

Hardware graphics acceleration is designed to improve performance by offloading rendering tasks to your GPU. However, outdated or incompatible graphics drivers can cause this feature to malfunction in specific Office applications like Word.

Open Word Options

Launch Microsoft Word, click on 'File' in the top-left corner, and select 'Options' at the bottom of the menu.

Navigate to Display Settings

In the Word Options dialog box, click on the 'Advanced' tab on the left pane and scroll down until you find the 'Display' section.

Disable Acceleration

Check the box next to 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration'. Click 'OK' to save your changes.

Restart Your Computer

Close Microsoft Word entirely and restart your computer to ensure the new display settings are fully applied.

Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration in Word

Performance Impact: Disabling this feature shifts the rendering workload back to your CPU. For standard document editing, you will not experience any noticeable decrease in performance.

Solution 2

Run Word in Safe Mode to Identify Problematic Add-ins

Booting Word in Safe Mode temporarily disables third-party add-ins, helping determine if an extension is causing the graphical issue.

Solution 3

Install the Latest Windows Updates

Outdated system drivers can cause display anomalies. Updating Windows ensures your graphics drivers are fully compatible with Microsoft Word.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Switch to WPS Office for a Bug-Free, Smooth Document Experience

If Microsoft Word continues to struggle with display glitches or performance issues, consider switching to WPS Office. It is a lightweight, free alternative that ensures smooth scrolling, seamless format compatibility, and a familiar user interface without the heavy system requirements.

1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website to download and install the free WPS Office suite on your computer.
2. Open WPS Writer: Launch WPS Office and open 'WPS Writer', the dedicated word processor alternative to Microsoft Word.
3. Edit Your Documents: Drag and drop your existing .docx files into WPS Writer to continue working seamlessly without any scrolling display issues.

Smooth document rendering with no graphical glitches or black bars during scrollingFully compatible with Microsoft Word formats including .docx and .docLightweight design ensures fast loading and stable performance on any Windows PCFamiliar ribbon interface makes your migration instant and effortless

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do black bars only appear in Microsoft Word and not Excel?

Word and Excel utilize hardware acceleration differently based on their specific document layout and text rendering needs. If Word's specific rendering protocols conflict with your current graphics driver, the black bars will isolate to Word while Excel remains unaffected.

Will disabling hardware graphics acceleration slow down my computer?

No. Disabling this feature in Word only shifts the rendering workload from your graphics card (GPU) back to your main processor (CPU). For standard document editing and reading, modern CPUs are more than capable, and you will not notice any decrease in performance.

What should I do if Safe Mode fixes the black bars in Word?

If the issue disappears in Safe Mode, a third-party add-in is the likely culprit. You can isolate it by going to File > Options > Add-ins in normal mode, selecting 'COM Add-ins' from the Manage dropdown, clicking Go, and unchecking your extensions one by one until the issue stops.

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