Recently a reader wrote in asking about a problem when pasting pictures in MS Word:
When I do a print screen of my desktop and paste in Word, I get a blank box with dashes, yet it works perfectly when I paste in Outlook. Is there any particular reason for this?
Since systems always vary, it could be a multitude of issues but the most common reason I’ve run across is in the options of Word.
Basically there’s a setting that will have Word load pictures as a simple placeholder.
Why would anyone use this?
The most common reason is to speed things up when working on a document with a lot of pictures. The scrolling is much, much faster if Word is not trying to load the pictures every time you scroll through the document.
That being said the next logical thought is to wonder how to change that setting.
As I mentioned before, it’s a setting found in Word’ options. Depending upon the version of Word you’re running they are accessed via the Tools menu (for versions older than 2007), the Office Button (Word 2007) or the File tab of the Ribbon (Word 2010).
Once you’re into the Options dialog box you’ll need to locate the settings for what content Word displays – looking for a reference to picture placeholders.
In the newer versions, you’ll find that in the Advanced Options / Show Document Content section.
Deselect the “Show Picture Placeholders” option and click OK.
That should do the trick – pictures should now be visible in your documents from this point forward.
~ April
Wow!! You answered the question I just posted!!It was driving me c-r-a-z-y…
All I had to do was uncheck that blasted “Placeholders” box and the problem was solved.
Thank you WorldStart!!!!
wow great thanks
Thank you…this was driving me nuts too…
OMG, thank you soo much, it was driving me crazy because i have an design exam tomorrow and i needed as much info as possible! thank you so much! =)
This is happening to me, but picture placeholders was never checked in the first place. What do I do?
I am have the same issue as Audrey. This option was never checked yet I am still getting blank pictures. I’ve even tried checking and unchecking the placeholder box. The drawing box underneath is checked as well. I tried changing my resolution on my computer, but I can’t figure it out. And this couldn’t happen at the worst possible time. I’m sure it started happening with a recent update because this hasn’t been happening forever. I’m running Windows 8.1 with MS Word 2013. This is so frustrating! Please help!
Having same problem as Prissy. Sometimes placeholders go away, then come back later. Not related to any settings I can see. Inserting from desktop works fine – only when copy – paste from web does this happen. I’m also on 8.1 but in word2010.
I activated this by accident. A keyboard shortcut?
Wow, thanks. It was getting to be very frustrating with the placeholder and not the picture. Thanks!!
perfect solution great dear !!!! 🙂
I had a similar but slightly different problem. The picture box was black. I found that it was a compatability problem migrating from PC to MAC. I resolved it using the compatability report, which is next to the likes of dictionary/thesaurus. I hope this helps somebody as I’m no expert either.
I have MS 2013 – your solution isn’t even available. My IT staff doesn’t even know how to do this. Give me a break! Helpdesk my A$$
Pam, I’m looking at Word 2013 and that solution is indeed there. Go to the File Tab then choose Options – then advanced options. Scroll down to Show document content and Show Picture placeholders is the third thing down in the list under Show document content.
facing similar issue in on MAC 2011, Word 2011- any thoughts ?
When I have a photo or other graphic on the clipboard that will not show up in my Word 2010 document, I use this cumbersome work around I discovered for this problem. I go to >Insert>Object. I will get a dialog, and I chose “Bitmap” which will open a Paint window with a blank object. When I hit the paste button in the upper left, the item becomes a bitmap. Then in the ribbon to the left of the “home” tab is a tab in blue, presumably the “file” tab, and under there you’ll find the “Update document” command. You may get a dialog that says you can’t do what you are doing, and sometimes I have to paste the graphic into a different location and delete the original place holder, but I still manage to get the graphic in there. Good luck!
RANT: for all the effort this corporation put into creating this whole “ribbon” concert, they really did a poor job designing this interface. It was meant to be more intuitive, but all they did was hide functionality that I used on a regular basis. I miss the original interface. …Just sayin’!
A thousand kisses to yopu. I have struggled with this problems for a year& all it needed was an untick & you! You are assured a place in heaven. Thanks a lot. x
Pam – I’m with you. Using MS2013 and there is no such option available under File / options / advanced options. specifically I am inserting Tif pictures and sometimes the “Bring Forward” and “Send Back” functionalities seem to work in reverse and sometimes even the placeholders don’t show up – but if you click where you know they are, then the placeholders will show up. But I cannot seem to get the actual PICTURE to be visible.
Thanks this worked for me too!
Thank you very much. The solution worked for me. Good Job….:)
it helped me as well………..
HI, One of our users (I’m in IT support) is having the same problem as Audrey & Prissy:
If she copies content from the web (Text & images) (Ctrl+C or Right Click-Copy) and then pastes into Word the text displays but the image does not. Clicking on where the image should be shows the placeholder box.
The System is Windows 7 & Word 2010.
The Show placeholders option is unticked (tried ticking then unticking too).
Any suggestions anyone?
Colin.
I think my problem was that I was opening a document in Word 2013 that was created in Word 2010, so there were compatibility issues. I clicked File>Info>Inspect Document>Check Compatibility. Then all the pictures and linked excel charts displayed correctly. I hope this help those who don’t have the “placeholders” box checked but still can’t see pictures in Word 2013.
Many Many Thanks…
I am on Windows 8, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013.
This is what I usually do to copy and paste images on MS Word:
1. Do a Ctrl+Alt+PrtSc
2. Paste into mspaint
3. Copy the desired image area
4. Ctrl+V on Ms Word
Now, when I double-click, the image is opened in mspaint.
Suppose, I send the file to someone who does not have mspaint, or, someone working on Mac, where would the image open by default?
This is a bit urgent query, and I need assistance at the.
Thanks in advance for your quick response.
Regards
Navdeep Joshi
navz_joshi00@yahoo.com
Thank you!
OMG ….I have been looking for this solution for some months now. It was such an easy fix
Thanks
Thanks a lot. I was puzzled for a long time about this “bug”.
I have been trying to solve this for 45 days. Thank you so much for showing
the solution. Not sure what the employee did to cause this but glad you were aware of the option in Word.
If I may intrude, I wonder if anyone would know why (and how to fix) pictures becoming huge when I copy from anywhere and paste on my Word (2003) or email (WLMail)? I’ve been searching and searching and can’t find a solution. I tried to reduce them one by one by pulling them in, from their 4 angles, but they don’t get reduced in 2 or 3 pullings but in very many pullings until I get them to the small size I need them.
Thanks ever so very much for any ideas.
Forgot to add that another possibility for the problem this person has:
“When I do a print screen of my desktop and paste in Word, I get a blank box with dashes, yet it works perfectly when I paste in Outlook. Is there any particular reason for this?”
the reason might be that the pictures are SO huge when pasted on Word that they start appearing on the 2nd or 3rd page and only part of them as the entire pic doesn’t fit on one page. At least this is what I get when I copy/paste to my Word from anywhere.
Awesome guys, i had this problem and was always viewing the docs in a non-normal mode, this is an easy fix and will never forget it…thanks..
What is the problem if the graphic shows up in the print menu, but it prints a black box instead of the graphic?
What is the problem if the graphic shows up fine in the print menu, but it prints a black box instead of the graphic?
Sorry
I’m not happy because my problem same but not solved.
I’m copying from manuals (installed software help) & past MS word but each and every thing ok but no any one images can not display Or shown & the image area is blank, when i click the image area then select something but not show image.
please can u help me?
I’m use office 2007
please, please ……
help me ….?
most helpful on the displayed image in a Word document.
By default, Word will embed the picture in your document. You can reduce the size of your document by linking to the picture instead. To do this, in the Choose a Picture dialog box, select options at the bottom and then the Link to File box.
in MS WORD 2010 Version
steps for showing the picture through the place holder option. follow given below
1.go to file menu->Options->advanced->show document content->deselect show picture placeholders->ok
I have Word 2013, on Windows 10 (don’t judge, I bought it that way) –
MS Word docs, once they get larger (I compose graphics heavy reports for a living) – tend to give me that blank box for my maps and images. It’s an issue since I use Adobe to make my PDF Final drafts. It’s also hard to edit and compose the reports when the images are blinking in and out. This has to be flaw in the programing, but no one cares at Micro-Satan… So what happens is the program freezes and/or crashes and if it makes it to draft images are often blank in PDFs. It’s making me crazy. Can anyone help???
Thanks. Worked 100%
I’m having a similar problem. I’ve tried all the above suggestions, but nothing seems to be working.
Whenever I try to copy an image from the internet, I click paste, but all that shows up is the little ‘ctrl’ drop down menu (the past options). No picture shows and there isn’t even an empty box. I’ve tried updating word, changing paste settings. It didn’t used to do this.
Does anyone know how to fix this issue??? PLEASE??
Thanks 🙂
Thanks it worked for me. Bravo
Show picture placeholders is unticked but I still have this issues in Word 2016. Even tried ticking it and saving, so I could untick it again. No good! Any other thoughts?
I tried the above suggestions but it still doesn’t work. I need to place several hundred high def pictures in this one file, and they do not appear. What should I do?
You are a life saver!!!!!!!!!!!!
Almost got a heart attack when I opened my essay and all the pictures were blank….
Cannot thank you enough for the help.
Hello. And Bye.
Thank you!! This was so helpful!
Literally spent hours trying to find a solution for this – I thought it was my graphics card going A-wall. You are awesome!
Thank you so much for the resolution, I can see the images now. Technical support reinstalled MS Office to resolve this but it didn’t work 🙂
Thank you so much for the solution