How to Fix Visual Glitches and Screen Artifacts in Microsoft Word
Question details
Users are encountering visual glitches and screen artifacts in Microsoft Word when scrolling through documents.
- Product
- Microsoft Word
- Device & OS
- Windows
- Scenario
- Scrolling through large documents containing many pages or images.
- Observed behavior
- Screen artifacts and visual glitches appear across all open documents during editing, which temporarily disappear when restarting the application.
Save your current documents and verify your Windows system architecture (32-bit or 64-bit) in your system settings before making application changes.
Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration in Word
Disabling hardware graphics acceleration forces Microsoft Word to use software rendering, bypassing graphics card conflicts that cause visual glitches.
Hardware graphics acceleration is designed to improve performance by offloading rendering tasks to your computer's GPU. However, incompatibilities between Microsoft Office and certain graphics drivers can cause severe screen tearing and artifacts.
Open Microsoft Word, click on the 'File' tab in the top-left corner, and select 'Options' at the bottom of the menu.
In the Word Options dialog box, click on 'Advanced' in the left pane. Scroll down the right pane until you find the 'Display' section.
Check the box next to 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration'. If it is already checked, try unchecking it to see if the issue resolves. Click 'OK' to save your changes.
Close Microsoft Word completely and reopen your document to verify if the visual glitches have stopped.
Install the 64-Bit Version of Microsoft Office
Running a 32-bit version of Office on a 64-bit Windows system can lead to memory limitations when processing large, image-heavy documents.
Update Your Computer's Display Drivers
Outdated or corrupted display drivers often cause rendering issues in hardware-accelerated desktop applications like Microsoft Word.
Experience Smooth, Glitch-Free Editing with WPS Office
If visual glitches persist in Microsoft Word, consider switching to WPS Office. It is highly optimized, lightweight, and less demanding on system resources, ensuring smooth scrolling even in large, image-heavy documents.
- 1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website to download the free installation package for your operating system.
- 2. Install the Software: Run the downloaded installer and follow the simple on-screen prompts to set up WPS Office on your computer.
- 3. Open Your Document: Launch WPS Writer and seamlessly open your existing Word documents to continue editing without visual glitches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Microsoft Word glitch only when I scroll?
Scrolling forces Word to rapidly render new text and images. If your graphics driver is outdated or hardware acceleration is conflicting with your GPU, the system struggles to render the frames quickly enough, causing artifacts and screen tearing.
Does restarting Microsoft Word permanently fix screen artifacts?
No, restarting Word usually only clears the application's video memory cache temporarily. The visual glitches will likely return once you resume heavy scrolling unless you disable hardware acceleration or update your drivers.
How do I know if I am running 32-bit or 64-bit Microsoft Word?
You can check this by opening Word, clicking on 'File', selecting 'Account', and then clicking the 'About Word' button. The top line of the resulting dialog box will state whether your installation is 32-bit or 64-bit.
Will disabling hardware graphics acceleration slow down my computer?
In most modern computers with capable processors, disabling hardware acceleration in Word will not cause a noticeable drop in performance. Instead, it effectively stabilizes the software rendering, eliminating screen tearing.
