"Ghost" Grey Border around Text boxes

ihatewriter00 · January 6, 2026, 11:58am

I am new here, so I am not entirely sure of the rules for posting an issue. Please forgive me and guide me if I make a mistake.

Context: I created a file with an .odt extension in LibreOffice Writer, added text into several text boxes, and saved it. There are no issues when reopening that original file.

The Issue: I reopened the file and created a copy by saving it as a .docx. For some reason, this new copy displays grey borders on all the original text boxes, yet when I insert new text boxes, they appear perfectly fine.

I do not want to simply toggle ‘boundaries’ off in the View tab; I want to understand why this is happening and find a solution for this specific behavior.

I Understand these grey borders do not get rendered in other Software or PDF, but these borders ruin the visibility of my file and so I want to get rid of them if possible. I Have Tried browsing the internet for this issue, even tried asking AI (which AI itself gave up trying to solve it).

Clicking Clear direct formatting doesnt help either.

ajlittoz · January 6, 2026, 12:50pm

I experience the same issue: new text boxes don’t show their boundaries. But, once document is closed and reopened, all boundaries are there.

Independently from this (minor) display issue, I question the structure of your document. It is exclusively made of text boxes. You immediately lose in formatting expressiveness. Though you can painfully apply style to text, the boxes themselves can’t be controlled by styles. In addition, if you intend to used numbered headings, be prepared to meet weirdness: headings (or any numbered list) will be numbered in order of boxes creation, not in reading order! Moreover, you cannot specify box-box constraints, even playing with wrap settings – which governs text-box interaction).

Borders around paragraphs can easily be added to paragraph properties without the need for text boxes.

And if your goal is a graphical document rather than a paper, use Draw which more graphics-oriented and allows easy desktop publishing (DTP). You can also use Impress (which is fundamentally the same app as Draw with a different UI) which offers a pre-boiled workflow.

ihatewriter00 · January 6, 2026, 1:11pm

After your and other’s replies, I have decided to limit the use of Text boxes for Text, and add Borders around Paragraphs instead in my document.

However, I still wonder why writer toggles “Boundaries” ON for .docx files, but not for .odt by default?

Also, is there a way to keep Boundaries toggled on for Tables, but not for Text Boxes separately?

Thanks!

keme1 · January 6, 2026, 12:20pm

Most likely this is happening because you have “boundaries” selected. The visible boundaries are not part of formatting or otherwise part of your document. They are just visual clues about editing regions.

When you need to optimize for visibility, you switch borders off.
When you need to optimize for layout/editing/planning of your document, it may be useful to switch borders on.

Why borders do not show for new boxes added, I do not know. For me the document seems to behave well when opened in LO Writer, but a little weird when opened in MS Word. AOO Writer just displays a blank page, boxes and their content is removed. I have not tried other applications which claim to support OOXML/docx formatted files. This inconsistency suggests that there is some flaw in the docx export.

ihatewriter00 · January 6, 2026, 1:06pm

I rechecked the boundaries option in my document after your reply, and now I get how it works. Thanks for the answer!