Applies ToWord 2016

Last updated: October 13, 2017

ISSUE

Emojis are displayed as square boxes in Office applications (such as Word and Outlook) in Windows 7.

This issue affects all Office customers in Windows 7 except Microsoft 365 subscribers with Office 2016 versions 16.0.8067.2032 or later (currently released to Office Insiders).

STATUS: FIXED

To resolve this issue, we recommend customers upgrade to the following:

  • Monthly Channel (Formerly: Current Channel): Office 2016 subscribers (Microsoft 365) and non-subscribers who have Click-to-Run version installed in Windows 7 will need to update to Version 1704 (Build 8067.2115) or later (April 2017 monthly updates).

  • Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) (Formerly: First Release for Deferred Channel): This is now fixed in Version 1708 (8431.2079).

  • Current Branch for Business (formerly Deferred Channel): Microsoft 365 customers in the Semi-Annual Channel will obtain the fix early next year.

  • Microsoft Office 2016 who receive updates through Windows Installer technology (MSI): Download KB 3203471 to install the update to the Segoe UI Emoji font.

  • Microsoft Office 2013 users who have Click-to-Run version installed in Windows 7 or who receive updates through Windows Installer technology (MSI): For those who have Office 2013 MSI, download KB 4011087 to install the update to the Segoe UI Emoji font. For users who have Office 2013 Click-to-Run, this update will be available in the next monthly update, ETA September 12th.

Note: Outlook/Word 2016 users who have updated to the versions that contain the fix won’t see the square boxes when they insert emojis. If the recipient of the email message/document doesn't have the updated Office 2016 version in Windows 7 or have not upgraded to Windows 10, they will continue to see the emojis as square boxes.

This information is also posted in KB 4021341.

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Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Word for PC

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