Rotate Handle Doesn’t Appear On Text Boxes In Microsoft 365 Word – How To Fix?

Please excuse that this description of my problem is a ‘tad’ long-winded. I just wanted to describe what I’ve already tried – to no avail – to correct this problem, in order to save time for any possible respondents who may have otherwise suggested things I had already tried.

The problem described below started recently. It may have been after Windows 10 automatically installed some updates, or after I switched from ‘regular’ Microsoft Office to the Microsoft 365 subscription service (under which Office is resident on Microsoft’s servers, rather than on end-users’ own computers).

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I have a 64-bit desktop PC.

On it I run Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (16.0.14228.20200) 32-bit. I don’t know whether or not there’s a 64-bit version of Microsoft 365 – presumably there is – but this is what Microsoft gave me when I subscribed to Microsoft 365.

For what it’s worth, I’m running under Microsoft Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 (OS Build 19042.1110).

For some reason, when I create a text box – whether the ‘regular’ kind or one I draw – it has no rotate handle.

Also, online I repeatedly find this alternate way to rotate a text box:

1. Select the object to rotate.
2. Go to Shape Format, Drawing Tools or Picture Tools > Format.
3. Select Rotate, and then select More Rotation Options.
4. Enter the amount to rotate the object in Rotation or use the arrows to rotate the object.

But nowhere in the ribbon can I find Shape Format, Drawing Tools or Picture Tools.

And although selecting a text box and then right-clicking on it does cause a drop-down menu to appear which includes the option Format AutoShape/Picture, the Format Text Box dialog box that then appears has no Rotate option under any of its five tabs.

And clicking on Help in the ribbon and then entering “rotate text within a text box” does bring up an option “Set text direction and position in a shape or text box in Word,” but that just brings up the same Format Text Box dialog box as before. So, no help there.

Does anybody have any idea how I can either fix any of these problems, or at least find another way to rotate text boxes?

Thanks for any help.