# Selecting text in MS Word has black background when it used to be light grey

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 6, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514 "2021-05-06T11:39:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514/1 "2021-05-06T11:39:35Z")

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I recently triggered Windows 10 Narrator by accident and it had an unintended consequence. Now whenever I select text in MS Word (Office 365 edition) the background is black instead of light grey.

Note I’m not talking about _highlighting_ text. I’m talking about using the mouse to select text. In this message board for example, selected text is white on a blue background.

I’ve searched the web for answers, and they either mistake the issue for highlighting, or they call for changing a setting in Windows Appearance, which doesn’t exist in Windows 10.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514/2 "2021-05-06T11:53:38Z")

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You know what they say about blacklined matter.

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**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514/3 "2021-05-06T11:54:16Z")

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Have you read over the information on this web page? [**Customizing Windows 10 Narrator**](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/chapter-7-customizing-narrator-ce950246-c915-0d44-9be6-fb474387a285)

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**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514/4 "2021-05-06T12:01:01Z")

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At the risk of asking the obvious, are you sure you turned Narrator _off_ ?

> **[Chapter 1: Introducing Narrator - Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/chapter-1-introducing-narrator-7fe8fd72-541f-4536-7658-bfc37ddaf9c6)**
>
> Learn about Narrator, a screen reading app in Windows, including how to start and stop Narrator before and after you sign in to your PC.

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**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514/5 "2021-05-06T12:53:12Z")

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I had to get the NVDA screen reader installed, which I thought was Narrator. I turned it off and text selection is back to gray. I don’t know why.

Thanks for the help Dopers.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/selecting-text-in-ms-word-has-black-background-when-it-used-to-be-light-grey/941514/6 "2021-05-06T18:02:33Z")

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> [@Knowed\_Out](#):
>
> I don’t know why.

This sums up many of my interactions with my work computer.