How do I show the page margin in Word 2016?

Using Word 2016 (and apparently 2013, and 365), there is no longer an option for showing a page's text boundaries. Rather it defaults to essentially paragraph boundaries. How can I get my page's text boundaries (i.e. margins) displayed again?

According to this site and this site Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, has declared this beloved, long-standing feature a bug, and fixed it in their recent editions (with no apparent intention of returning).

You can visit here to try and convince Microsoft to correct this egregious offense.

And no Google, the page margins/text boundaries are not the same as the guides/rulers.

Thanks to bagwell005, I found a variation that works for my purposes. I went to File>Options>Advanced. Under "Show document content" I selected "Show crop marks." IMHO, this provides a workable sense of the margins. I hope it helps!

Here is my macro lifehack that makes use of the gridlines to display text boundaries in the pre-2013 style. The macro switches boundaries on/off.

The produced boundaries are a bit improved: they extend at the full page width and height, crossing in the corners. If you like boundaries that look just like a rectangle, like it was in Office before 2013, remove ' at the start of this line:

' ActiveDocument.GridOriginFromMargin = True

Downside: There will be the same boundaries for the whole document, so if you have multiple sections with different size margins, their boundaries will be like those of the section that is current at the moment when you run the macro.

The macro:

Sub view_page_boundaries()
' provide page boundaries using a customised page grid
    With Selection
        ActiveDocument.GridOriginFromMargin = False
        ' uncomment to have page boundaries like standard for pre-2013
        ' ActiveDocument.GridOriginFromMargin = True
        If ActiveDocument.GridOriginFromMargin = False Then
            ' display crossing boundaries at full width and height
            ActiveDocument.GridDistanceHorizontal = .PageSetup.PageWidth - .PageSetup.LeftMargin - .PageSetup.Gutter - .PageSetup.RightMargin
            ActiveDocument.GridDistanceVertical = .PageSetup.PageHeight - .PageSetup.TopMargin - .PageSetup.BottomMargin
        Else
            ' display boundaries like those in pre-2013
            ' 0.05 is half-millimeter to prevent cutting off the right and bottom boundaries by the margins
            ActiveDocument.GridDistanceHorizontal = CentimetersToPoints(Round(PointsToCentimeters( _
            .PageSetup.PageWidth - .PageSetup.LeftMargin - .PageSetup.Gutter - .PageSetup.RightMargin), 1) - 0.05)
            ActiveDocument.GridDistanceVertical = CentimetersToPoints(Round(PointsToCentimeters( _
            .PageSetup.PageHeight - .PageSetup.TopMargin - .PageSetup.BottomMargin), 1) - 0.05)
            ActiveDocument.GridOriginHorizontal = .PageSetup.LeftMargin + .PageSetup.Gutter
            ActiveDocument.GridOriginVertical = .PageSetup.TopMargin
        End If
        If Options.DisplayGridLines = False Then
            Options.DisplayGridLines = True
            ' do not need cropmarks at all with crossing boundaries
            ActiveWindow.View.ShowCropMarks = False
            ActiveDocument.GridSpaceBetweenHorizontalLines = 1
            ActiveDocument.GridSpaceBetweenVerticalLines = 1
        Else
            ActiveDocument.GridOriginFromMargin = True
            ' display cropmarks when there are no boundaries
            ActiveWindow.View.ShowCropMarks = True
            ActiveDocument.GridSpaceBetweenHorizontalLines = 2
            ActiveDocument.GridSpaceBetweenVerticalLines = 2
            ActiveDocument.GridDistanceHorizontal = CentimetersToPoints(0.18)
            ActiveDocument.GridDistanceVertical = CentimetersToPoints(0.32)
        End If
    End With
End Sub

One possible work-around, using grid lines:

1. Layout > Align > Grid Settings

2. Set grid settings (assuming 8 1/2" x 11" paper with 1" margins):

   • Horizontal spacing 6.5"
   • Vertical spacing 8.99"
   • Check Display gridlines on screen
   • Vertical every 1
   • Horizontal every 1

3. Click OK