Office Settings & Configuration

How to Fix Cropped Pages in Microsoft Publisher Navigation Pane

Maira Mehtab Sep 20, 2026 868 views

Question details

Users need to resolve a display issue where page thumbnails appear cropped inside the Microsoft Publisher navigation pane, rendering standard fixes like Safe Mode ineffective.

Product: Microsoft Publisher
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Viewing document thumbnails in the left-hand navigation pane of Microsoft Publisher.
Observed behavior: Page thumbnails are visually cropped or incorrectly scaled in the navigation pane, and this behavior persists even after repairing Office, resizing the pane, or launching the application in Safe Mode.

Before you start

Save your current documents and exit Microsoft Publisher completely before adjusting your system's resolution or modifying registry configuration keys.

Solution 1Recommended

Adjust Windows Display Resolution and Scaling

Modifying your Windows display scaling settings can often correct rendering glitches between the operating system and the Publisher interface.

Microsoft Publisher sometimes conflicts with high-DPI displays or custom scaling settings in Windows, causing interface elements like the navigation pane to render thumbnails incorrectly. Re-calibrating the scaling can force the interface to draw correctly.

Open Windows Display Settings

Right-click on an empty area of your Windows desktop and select 'Display settings' from the context menu.

Adjust Scale and Layout

Scroll down to the 'Scale and layout' section. Use the drop-down menu under 'Change the size of text, apps, and other items' to select the '100% (Recommended)' option.

Change Display Resolution

In the same window, adjust the 'Display resolution' to your monitor's native recommended resolution.

Reopen Microsoft Publisher

Launch Microsoft Publisher again and open a document to see if the navigation pane thumbnails now display without cropping.

Solution 2

Reset the Office User Profile via Windows Registry

If adjusting display settings fails, resetting the Microsoft Office registry key forces the application to build a fresh, uncorrupted user profile upon next startup.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the navigation pane in Publisher show cropped thumbnails?

This typically occurs due to an incompatibility between Microsoft Publisher's interface rendering and your current Windows display scaling settings, or due to a corrupted user profile stored within the Windows Registry.

Will running the Microsoft Office Repair tool fix the cropped pages?

Not always. While the standard Office Repair tool fixes missing program files, it often does not reset user-specific configuration data or override Windows-level display scaling conflicts.

Is it safe to rename the Office registry key to 'Office.old'?

Yes, renaming the key rather than deleting it is a safe troubleshooting step. When Publisher restarts, it will simply generate a new, clean 'Office' key. The 'Office.old' folder acts as a backup that you can revert to if needed.

Can I simply resize the navigation pane to fix the cropped view?

Manually dragging the borders of the navigation pane usually does not correct the underlying thumbnail cropping issue if it is caused by a system-level scaling glitch or profile corruption.

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