MS Word 2019 - Erasing and not allowing me to re-enter text

Jeff Mattero 15 Reputation points
2026-08-20T01:32:06.9466667+00:00

Hello:

I have a fill-in-the blank document that I have been using in my business for many years. The document has blanks in which I enter things such as a date, or an address, etc. In the last couple of weeks, when I pull up one of the documents that I created earlier this year, some of the text that was in the blanks as well as the underscoring on those blanks has disappeared from saved documents. Below is a screen shot. I am unable to enter underscoring between the words "On this the" and "day of". The same thing happens on the document that is the 2nd screenshot.

I have tried uninstalling the most recent Windows updates, and pausing windows update until 9/1/26, but it has not resolved the problem. I then tried a repair of Microsoft Office 2019 Professional, and still, the problem is not resolved.

When I tried multiple times to uninstall the 8/17/26 KB5121767 update, but the uninstall fails, and I get an error message 0x800F0905.

Any ideas on what I can do?
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Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

2 answers

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  1. Kai-H 25,090 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-08-20T08:22:23.7333333+00:00

    (Please note that our forum is a public platform, and we will modify your question to hide your personal information in the description. Kindly ensure that you hide any personal or organizational information the next time you post an error or other details to protect personal data.)

    Hi, Jeff Mattero

    This looks more like damaged document formatting or a display problem with the underscore characters than a Windows update issue. Older templates that use repeated underscore characters can become unstable when paragraph spacing or font rendering changes.

    Besides the solutions provided by the Q&A Assist, here are some suggestions you can try:

    Open a new blank document, select Insert > Object > Text from File, and insert the affected document. Save the result under a new name, then test editing it. This can recover the document content without carrying over a damaged final paragraph mark.

    Select one affected paragraph, then open Home > Paragraph and change Line spacing from Exactly to Single or Multiple. Also test at 100% zoom. Underscores may not display when line spacing is too tight, and the problem can vary with the zoom level.

    Temporarily change the affected text to another common font, such as Arial or Times New Roman. Certain font, size, and bold combinations can cause underscore characters to render incorrectly even though the characters are still in the document.

    For a lasting fix, it is recommended that the blank areas be rebuilt using underlined tabs rather than long strings of underscore characters. This keeps the line in place while dates and addresses are entered.

    Thank you for your patience in reading, I hope this information has been helpful to you. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment."    

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  2. AI answer

    2026-08-20T01:32:27.54+00:00

    A likely first check is overtype mode. In Word, when overtype is on, typing at the insertion point replaces existing characters instead of inserting new text, which matches text being erased as new text is entered.

    Try this in Word 2019:

    1. Open Word.
    2. Go to File > Options.
    3. Select Advanced.
    4. Under Editing options, clear both:
      • Use the Insert key to control overtype mode
      • Use overtype mode
    5. Select OK.

    Then test the same fill-in document again.

    If the issue continues, follow the Office troubleshooting order:

    1. Update Office
      • Open Word.
      • Go to File > Account.
      • Under Product Information, select Update Options > Update Now.
      • If Update Now is not shown, select Enable Updates first.
    2. Start Word in Safe Mode to check whether an add-in is interfering
      • Open Run.
      • Start Word with the safe-mode switch as described in the Office troubleshooting article.
      • If the problem does not occur in Safe Mode, an add-in is a likely cause.
    3. Update Windows and device drivers
      • Check for Windows updates.
      • If the problem remains, update these drivers from the device manufacturer site:
        • video card
        • printer
        • mouse
        • keyboard
    4. Reinstall Office Since Office repair did not resolve it, use the Microsoft uninstall troubleshooter, restart the PC when prompted, and then reinstall Office.

    The failed Windows update uninstall with error 0x800F0905 is not covered in the available guidance, so the supported path here is to focus on the Word and Office troubleshooting steps above rather than the KB removal.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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