Graphical glitch in Word and Outlook (Office 365)

[Chris85]

Hello dear forum,

I have the problem that I have strange display errors in Word but also in Outlook 365 when entering text:

As soon as I move the cursor over the distorted text, it is displayed normally again. The error is still there even after several reinstallations of Windows 10 and Office 365.

Today I connected the monitor to the processor's graphics card as a test and found no such errors. It seems this issue is related to my Nvidia RTX 3080 ti. I also noticed today that scrolling in Word documents is much more sluggish and even jerky when my Nvidia card is working. I was also able to determine the described scrolling behavior with the Nvidia card in Chrome.
Everything runs very smoothly with the processor graphics unit.

In games, on the other hand, I don't notice any problems with the Nvidia card, here it performs as promised.
The problem is driving me insane because I'm at my wits end. Unfortunately, Office 365 no longer has the option of deactivating hardware acceleration as a test, so I currently see no possibility of further testing or generating possible solutions.

I hope you can help me!

 

[neatfeatguy]

I hate the updates that were pushed out to MS Office over the past year or more on the 365 office. Worthless changes that do nothing more than move options and rearrange the menu, but yet they seem to be very good at breaking stuff and not really fixing things properly

Have you tried to disable (or enable, I forget what it defaults to) the hardware graphics acceleration option in Word and for Outlook?

You go under File > Options > Advanced > then scroll down the to the Display section (should look something like this - this pic is from my office 2016 at home)

See if setting or disabling that option fixes things for you.

 

[Chris85]

Have you tried to disable (or enable, I forget what it defaults to) the hardware graphics acceleration option in Word and for Outlook?

Actually there is no such option - neither in outlook nor in word...

 

[Frick]

I hate the updates that were pushed out to MS Office over the past year or more on the 365 office. Worthless changes that do nothing more than move options and rearrange the menu, but yet they seem to be very good at breaking stuff and not really fixing things properly

Considering they've ironed out all the bugs and security issues the devs have to do something I guess.

 

[kiriakost]

Buy a NEW high quality cable for the monitor.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Actually there is no such option - neither in outlook nor in word...

Apparently MS removed the option from all the 365 software, except for Excel, recently. I know I had gone through 8-12 months ago on Word (365) at work and disabled the hardware acceleration because of the severely delayed response I'd get when typing....massive lag. By the time I'd finish typing a sentence I'd watch Word still putting letters across the screen and it was agonizing. I disabled the hardware acceleration and the lag issue went away.

 

[sneekypeet]

You are not running the scaling for the display over 100% are you? Had similar issues with forum text due to it.

 

[Chris85]

No, scaling is @100%.

Just noticed that when trying to make a screenshot of the issue, on the screenshot there is no glitch. Could it be display related? I have a 2 month old LG 34GN850-B which I use with the delivered displayport cable.

 

[neatfeatguy]

No, scaling is @100%.

Just noticed that when trying to make a screenshot of the issue, on the screenshot there is no glitch. Could it be display related? I have a 2 month old LG 34GN850-B which I use with the delivered displayport cable.

If you screenshot the issue and the issue doesn't appear in the screenshot, then it would be hardware related. Possible issue with the video cable you're using or even with the monitor. It was suggested a few posts above to try a new video cable.

 

[Chris85]

No, scaling is @100%.

Just noticed that when trying to make a screenshot of the issue, on the screenshot there is no glitch. Could it be display related? I have a 2 month old LG 34GN850-B which I use with the delivered displayport cable.

Update - I just checked the cable - I use a sharkoon display port 2.0 cable, not the one that was delivered with the monitor. I need to check the monitor settings. Any hints what to look for?

If you screenshot the issue and the issue doesn't appear in the screenshot, then it would be hardware related. Possible issue with the video cable you're using or even with the monitor. It was suggested a few posts above to try a new video cable.

Hardware related in terms of monitor cable and/or monitor, not in terms of graphics card - right?

 

[neatfeatguy]

Hardware related in terms of monitor cable and/or monitor, not in terms of graphics card - right?

Shouldn't have anything to do with the GPU. If you took a screenshot and the issue isn't showing up in the screenshot, then it's not an issue with the GPU displaying info. There's some kind of muck-up with the signal getting to the display or the display actually displaying the info.

Or, it just could be with MS office. Do you see the same issues with text when using other software, such as text being shown in games or maybe reading a pdf or using something else such as notepad or OpenOffice to type things out?

 

[Chris85]

Shouldn't have anything to do with the GPU. If you took a screenshot and the issue isn't showing up in the screenshot, then it's not an issue with the GPU displaying info. There's some kind of muck-up with the signal getting to the display or the display actually displaying the info.

Or, it just could be with MS office. Do you see the same issues with text when using other software, such as text being shown in games or maybe reading a pdf or using something else such as notepad or OpenOffice to type things out?

I just tried notepad but without any issues. Tomorrow I will try OpenOffice.
What irritates me is that there are no other users in the web with the same issues I experienced.

By the way - Today Microsoft Word made no problems but so Outlook did:

A user on another forum recommended updating the mouse driver. I then downloaded the Logitech Setpoint drivers and I haven't had any errors since. I don't know if that's a coincidence because I can't explain the connection, but scrolling in Word also feels a bit softer.

I will keep you up to date.

 

[Chris85]

The issues are back again...

 

[leland]

To make Outlook to use a specific graphics card (i.e. use a basic driver so it disables hardware acceleration).

1. Open Graphics Settings
   • Windows 11
     Start> Settings> System> Display> (section) Related Settings> Graphics
   • Windows 10
     Start> Settings> System> Display> (section) Multiple displays> Graphics settings
2. Select: Desktop app
3. Use the Browse button to add Outlook.exe (you can use Process Explorer to find the path if it is running or right click on the shortcut and go to properties.)
4. After you’ve added Outlook, select it from the list and press the Options button to select your GPU.
5. Use the Power Saving GPU: Microsoft Basic Render Driver to turn off hardware acceleration like you used to be able to do an easier way.

 

[Chris85]

Hi, thank you - I just did these steps but under Power Saving GPU there was only the option to choose the RTX 3080ti. Nevertheless I chose it and will see how it works. I keep you updated!

Update: It unfortunately does not help. I was able to reproduce the issue and also captured it on an obs recording...

 

[leland]

There is also a way to do this with the registry though I haven't tried this method yet.

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run box. Now type Regedit in the field and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor window.

2. In the Registry Editor Window, navigate to the below path (below is based on Office 365):
For MS Office 2016 - Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Graphics

Navigate To The Path Based On Office 16 and Double Click On The Dword (32 Bit) Value
Note: If the Graphics key is missing in the Common folder; follow the below steps to create the key and the DWORD (32-bit) Value under it.

3. Right-click on the Common folder, select New, and click on Key.
Registry Editor Path Common Right Click New Key

4. Now, rename the new Key as Graphics.
Name The Key As Graphics

5. Now, right-click on the empty space on the right, click on New, and then select DWORD (32-bit) Value from the sub-menu.

6. Next, rename the new DWORD (32-bit) Value field as DisableHardwareAcceleration

7. Now, continue from Step 2. Double-click on the DisableHardwareAcceleration on the right.

8. In the Edit Value box that pops up, change the value from 0 to 1 in the Value data field, and press OK to save the changes and exit.

Last, restart your PC for the changes to be effective.

 

[Chris85]

Hey Ieland, thank you for your effort, unfortunately it did not work. Meanwhile a Nvidia employee answered me. He said that it seems to be a Microsoft Office App Bug. I am not sure…

 

[leland]

Yes, it is my understanding it is an issue in Microsoft Office that has existed since the 2013 version. They recently removed the option to turn off hardware acceleration directly. Hence the methods I mentioned above. One last Hail Mary. go to a command line and run SYSDM.CPL then go to the Advanced Tab > Performance (Settings button) and select Adjust for best performance and select OK. That will turn off all the eye candy in Windows. It may or may not help. I can't be sure but since you have tried everything else it seems worth trying. Good luck.

 

[snapple]

Hi, I have been having similar visual glitches in Word and Outlook 365 and this thread is one that closely describes what I am experiencing, so I am following along to see if a solution arises. I don't have a screenshot to share yet, but my system is running graphics through a 3060TI (no graphics available through processor). Will try to use the apps in the browser version to see if the problem exists there. Don't have the option to disable hardware acceleration in my version of Word 365. (Version 2203 Build 16.0.15028.20218) 64-bit

 

[Chris85]

Hey Snapple - I totally forgot to post my solution here: I installed Windows 11. That fixed all the issues.

 

[chorobe]

I have a very similar problem. As I type in Word for Office 365, text on that line will disappear or glitch then reappear as normal. I am using a gaming laptop with an Nvidia RTX 3060. This only happens when my BIOS is set to use the discrete GPU only. When I put it back on dynamic mode, which by default uses the CPU's integrated GPU, Word acts 100% fine. I usually keep mine using the discrete GPU for games, so it is a hassle to change from dynamic to discrete in the BIOS everytime I use Word. My laptop also came with Windows 11, so Chris' solution will not work for me.

 

[Chris85]

Today the bugs were back - at least in outlook while writing an email...
Did they recently install any office updates? I did not use my pc for 3 days - maybe there have been any updates on outlook or office 365?

 

[neatfeatguy]

Not sure how to check for recent updates, but any updates that MS 365 pushes out are done in the background without users being involved. If an update was pushed out recently, you'd never know about it getting installed since it's done automatically in the background.

 

[Chris85]

Not sure how to check for recent updates, but any updates that MS 365 pushes out are done in the background without users being involved. If an update was pushed out recently, you'd never know about it getting installed since it's done automatically in the background.

Yeah, it seems so. I don’t know how to get rid of these annoying glitches/rendering errors…

 

[Betablocker]

Any solution to this problem? I'm having exactly the same glitches and they're driving me crazy...