Try ToolsOptionsView and change Field Shading to Never.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"M" wrote in message
...
Can anyone help I am trying to mail merge my Christmas letters, first name
etc is highlighted, and when merged and printed they come out in a grey
box. I have tried clicking 'Highlight merged fields' to 'unhighlight' in
the tool bar all to no avail. I am using Windows XP.

Can anyone save my sanity and help

Thank you.