Avery Word Template – Text Boxes Not Linked, But Typing in One Moves Content in Others

Hello,

I’m helping a client who has been using a Word document with an Avery name tag template for years. Recently, she noticed some unusual behavior:

• The document is built with multiple text boxes laid out for name tags.
• The text boxes are not linked (we checked, no “create link/break link” settings).
• However, when she types in one text box, the content in other text boxes shifts around or moves. It’s not duplicating the text, but it’s disrupting the alignment/layout of all the tags on the page.
• This happens even with brand new text boxes created in this document on her computer.
• If we create a brand new document with text boxes on a different computer, it works normally. But once that file is opened on her computer, the same issue occurs again.

So far we’ve tried:

• Resetting Word settings (renaming Normal.dotm and Word registry keys).
• Testing with a new blank document.
• Checking for linked text boxes.
• Saving as a new file/template.

The problem seems isolated to this one computer/Word installation, but it affects both old and new documents once they’re opened here. Other computer with the same template doesn't do this.

Has anyone seen this before?

Any advice on what else we can try, or how to ensure her Avery templates work normally again, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Cheers! - Colin