Why can't I remove a watermark in Word 2003?

Question

I've been writing a document but sending incomplete drafts out to customers as I go along. I "watermarked" these with a printed watermark of the words "DRAFT - INCOMPLETE".

The document is now done, but I can't get rid of the watermark from the last two sections of the document. If I go to "Format | Background | Printed Watermark ...", the pre-selected option is "No watermark". I've tried adding a text watermark and deleting it again, but this just gets added over the top and when I remove it the old watermark is still there.

So, any ideas how I get rid of it?

Answer 1

Ah, fixed it!

1. Go to "headers/footers" mode

2. Select each section in which watermark appears (or first section if they are "linked")

3. Highlight and delete ALL the header (even if no text) - the watermark will disappear

4. Put back the text you want to appear in the header (if any)

5. Save the document.

And relax.

Answer 2

I had the same problem, and your solution did not work for me. This worked:

1. Save your doc in xml format with word
2. Open with notepad or another text editor
3. Search all the docs with your watermark word (in my case was "DRAFT")
4. Remove all the occurrencies (in my case there were 8) if it is a word that appear in the doc pay attention at do not remove the legitimate occurrencies
5. Save
6. Reopen with word
7. Save as .doc