How do I get rid of these boxes please?

Have a look at:

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The hint by @Hrbrgr could be the solution to your problem but be helpful to the community. Even in case this solves the issue (and I hope you’ll report success), be helpful to others who might have the same problem: edit your question (don’t use a comment) to mention OS name, LO version and save format. This will make clear whic context you are in.

Note also that dark themes hide many useful visual clues which doesn’t facilitate diagnostic.