MacOFFX: The Office Assistant Is Displayed as a Blank Box (312228)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office v. X for Mac
  • Microsoft Entourage X
  • Microsoft Excel X for Mac
  • Microsoft PowerPoint X for Mac
  • Microsoft Word X for Mac

This article was previously published under Q312228

SYMPTOMS

When you click the Office Assistant button in any of the Microsoft Office v. X for Mac programs, the Office Assistant may be displayed as a blank box. When this behavior occurs, the Office Assistant does not close as expected after you click the Close button.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, use the following methods in the order presented, as necessary.

Method 1: Close the Office Assistant Through the Help Menu

To close the Office Assistant, click the Use Office Assistant command on the Help menu.

When you click the Use Office Assistant command (after the Office Assistant is already turned on), you disable the Office Assistant. You can then click the Search Word Help command on the Help menu to search Help by using the Keyword, Index, or Contents search features.

If this does not resolve the issue, proceed to the next method.

Method 2: Refresh the Screen

To refresh the screen, click the Finder or desktop, and then click anywhere in the Office program.

NOTE: If you used the preceding method to disable the Office Assistant, and now you want to restart the Office Assistant, click the Use Office Assistant command on the Help menu.

If this does not resolve the issue, proceed to the next method.

Method 3: Restart the Program

Save any open documents, and then quit and restart the program that you are using.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/18/2005
Keywords:kbbug kbpending KB312228