August 8, 2017, update for Word 2016 (KB3213656)

This article describes update 3213656 for Microsoft Word 2016 that was released on August 8, 2017. This update has a prerequisite.

Be aware that the update on the Microsoft Download Center applies to the Microsoft Installer (.msi)-based edition of Office 2016. It doesn't apply to the Office 2016 Click-to-Run editions, such as Microsoft Office 365 Home. (How to determine?)

After you install this update 3213656, you may experience the following issues:

• If you merge vertical cells in a table, the cell content disappears, and you can't select the merged cell.

• If you open an existing document that has a table that contains merged cells, the cells are displayed as blank.

These issues occur only for users who receive Microsoft Office 2016 updates by using the Windows Installer (MSI) technology. If you have a Click-to-Run edition of Office, such as Office 365 Personal, you won't encounter these issues.

Workaround

As a workaround, you can uninstall this update to restore your tables. We anticipate releasing the fix for these issues in the next monthly update that's tentatively scheduled for October 3, 2017. For more information, see the following Microsoft article:

After installing KB 3213656 or KB 4011039, merged table cells don't work correctly in Word or Outlook

Resolution

To fix this issue, install the October 3, 2017, update for Word 2016 (KB4011140).

This update fixes the following issues:

• When you open a document that has a legacy shape in Word 2016, Word 2016 may freeze.

• The hidden text isn't displayed even though the Print hidden text option is enabled in Word 2016.

• Japanese characters in the vertical text may be displayed as square boxes in Word 2016.

• Content with negative indent may be cropped in a non-first column in the presence of tables.

• The manual hyphenation functionality does not work as expected in Word 2016. Not all words that could be hyphenated are actually hyphenated.

• When you send an email with some spelling mistakes in Outlook 2016 in Windows 10, the regular proofing dialog isn't displayed as expected if the Always check spelling before sending option is enabled.

• Assume that you have a Word document opened. When you open another document that has a task pane add-in embedded, the add-in is displayed in the first Word document.

Download Center

This update is available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Download Center.

• Download update KB3213656 for 32-bit version of Word 2016
• Download update KB3213656 for 64-bit version of Word 2016

If you're not sure which platform (32-bit or 64-bit) you're running, see Am I running 32-bit or 64-bit Office? Additionally, see more information about how to download Microsoft support files.

Prerequisites

To apply this update, you must have Microsoft Word 2016 installed.

Restart information

You may have to restart the computer after you install this update.

To determine whether your Office installation is Click-to-Run or MSI-based, follow these steps:

1. Start an Office 2016 application.
2. On the File menu, select Account.
3. For Office 2016 Click-to-Run installations, an Update Options item is displayed. For MSI-based installations, the Update Options item isn't displayed.

Office 2016 Click-to-Run installation	MSI-based Office 2016

How to uninstall this update

Windows 10

1. Go to Start, enter View Installed Updates in the Search Windows box, and then press Enter.
2. In the list of updates, locate and select KB3213656, and then select Uninstall.

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then select Search. If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, and then select Search.
2. Enter windows update, select Windows Update, and then select Installed Updates.
3. In the list of updates, locate and select KB3213656, and then select Uninstall.

Windows 7

1. Go to Start, enter Run, and then select Run.
2. Enter Appwiz.cpl, and then select OK.
3. Select View installed updates.
4. In the list of updates, locate and select KB3213656, and then select Uninstall.

Learn about the standard terminology that's used to describe Microsoft software updates.

The Office System TechCenter contains the latest administrative updates and strategic deployment resources for all versions of Office.

The English (United States) version of this software update installs files that have the attributes that are listed in the following tables. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.

x86

x64