ArcMap issue - Table text in data view area

Question

I had the oddest of errors in ArcMap today. After zooming out after doing some union and polygon to raster operations, the system become very slow and one of the layer's table information is drawn in the data view window, column by column, line by line. There are 3700+ items in the table, and it takes some time to draw it, slowing down each scaling action with approx 30 sec.

Image showing how the table is drawn in the data view section of ArcMap (the whole table is not shown here, only some columns. However, the whole table is drawn if zoomed out enough. The text stop stacking if zoomed out.

The list still remains when removing all associated layers (containing the information drawn), it remains after save+quit (sadly I had already saved before recognizing the error). It does not remain when creating a new document and adding the shapefiles. Labels are turned off for all layers with associated information.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

Do I have to create a whole new document or can I save my mxd?

Answer 1

This can happen when you try to paste something (intentionally or accidentally) into your data frame or layout. Data can be pasted as a text box into the data frame, which would be why it's still there after you turn everything else off.

Try drawing a box in your data frame or layout with the mouse (just with the standard "Select Elements" mouse pointer:

and it should select any graphic or text elements in your view. If it appears to select the table then just hit Del and it should disappear.