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To remove a black or white background behind text in Word or Google Docs, 

you need to clear the shading/highlighting or reset paragraph styling, 

as this issue usually occurs when copying text from websites or other documents. 

• Method 1: Clear Shading (Most Likely Cause)

  1. Select the text with the background.

  2. Go to the Home tab, find the Paragraph group, and click the arrow next to the Shading button (a paint bucket icon).

  3. Select No Color.

• Method 2: Use Keyboard Shortcut

  1. Select the affected text.

  2. Press Ctrl + Spacebar (Windows) or Cmd + Spacebar (Mac) to remove direct formatting, including background color.

• Method 3: Clear Formatting Button

  1. Select the text.

  2. Go to the Home tab and click the Clear All Formatting button (an A with an eraser icon).

• Method 4: Paste Special (Preventive)
  If copying from a website, right-click and choose Paste as Plain Text (or click the small paste options box and choose the icon with just a 'T' - Keep Text Only). 

For Google Docs

• Method 1: Clear Formatting

  1. Select the text that has the background.

  2. Go to the menu and click Format > Clear formatting (or press *Ctrl + * / **Cmd + **).

• Method 2: Remove Highlight Color

  1. Select the text.

  2. Click the Highlight color icon (a marker pen) in the top menu.

  3. Select None.

• Method 3: Remove Background in "Borders and Shading"

  1. Select the text.

  2. Go to Format > Paragraph styles > Borders and shading.

  3. Set the Background color to None. 

If these methods do not work, the "background" might be a table cell with color, requiring you to select the table, go to Table Properties > Color > Cell background color and set it to None