Troubleshoot Word

Problem solvers

If you have trouble opening a Word document, or it is not working well, try these suggestions:

FIRST
Delete all of Word's temp files.

1. Go to Edit>Replace
   
2. Make sure to include all of your local drives in the search and that "include subfolders" is checked.
   
3. Search for:
   *.tmp
   
4. Then delete all these temp files.
   

Word leaves shards of temp files wherever the document file was stored. Word's temp files start with a tilde (~), so in most cases you can delete: ~*.* SECOND

1. Use Edit>Find to locate Normal.DOT.
   
2. Rename it (Normal.OLD) or delete it. Word will create a new copy when it restarts.
   

The only caveat here is be careful that you don't have important macros stored in Normal.DOT. If you rename, you can recover them. THIRD
If that does not correct the problem, try this next step:

1. Go to Start>Run and type:
   winword.exe /a
   (Note that there is a space before the /a)
   
2. Then press ENTER. This starts Word without any add-ins, global templates, or Normal.DOT.
   Look in Tools>Templates and Add-ins to see if there are any files that can be un-checked.
   

If you need even more help, go to: 
Knowledge base:

 How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start Word or when you work in Word


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Some Issues in Word

A collection of hows

Here are a few:

• How do I save so earlier versions of Word can open my documents? Talk about a one-two punch?
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924074/en-us
  
  
• How do I recover a lost or over-written file? Who says the "are you sure" dialogs are annoying?
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827099/en-us
  
  
• How do I create a mail merge? The fifth tab on the Ribbon is a brand new take on Mail Merge.
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294694/en-us
  
  
• How do I scan documents into Word 2013 to Edit?
  Answer: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_word-mso_windows8/how-do-i-scan-a-document-into-word-2013-to-edit/1a77f715-3e5f-4be5-b8d8-b2a105521aca?auth=1
  
  
• How to do stuff with templates?
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924460/en-us
  
  
• How do I create forms or use form fields?
  Answer: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-forms-that-users-complete-or-print-in-Word-040C5CC1-E309-445B-94AC-542F732C8C8B 

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SQL Warning in Word

Merge Ahead!

When you open a Word  mail merge main document that is linked to a data source, you may receive the following message:

Opening this will run the following SQL command:

SELECT * FROM C:\file_name.log

Data from your database will be placed in the document. Do you want to continue?

This message helps protect you from unintentionally sending data to a malicious user.
To suppress this message, you must first create the following registry key:

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Locate, and then click the following registry key:
   
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Options
   
   (Use 12.0 for Word 2007)
   
   
3. Click Edit, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
   
   
4. Under Name, type:
   
   SQLSecurityCheck
   
   
5. Double-click SQLSecurityCheck.
   
   
6. In the Value data box, type:
   
   00000000

See
Microsoft KB 825765

Installing Office XP SP3 appears to cause the same problem. For Word 2002 (XP also known as 10.0) you need to place the registry key in: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options

(Thanks to Brian Livingston at WindowsSecrets.com for pointing the way to a solution)


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PowerPoint Bloats Word

Diet tips

For various reasons, it can be helpful to send a PowerPoint show to Word. You can have great looking handouts and be able to format the document in ways that are not possible in PowerPoint.

The problem can be the size of the resultant file.

One of the easier, more practical ways to slim the doc down is to break the OLE links.

The size of a Word document may be 20 to 50 times larger than a PowerPoint presentation when you send the presentation to Word.

1. Start PowerPoint.
   
   
2. On the File menu, point to Send To, and then click Microsoft Office Word.
   
   
3. Click Paste link, and then click OK.
   
   
4. In the resulting Word document, click Links on the Edit menu.
   
   
5. Select all the links that are listed, and then click Break Link.
   
   
6. Click Yes when you are prompted.
   
   
7. Save the Word document.

When you eliminate the OLE overhead, you can reduce the size of the Word document by 90 percent

Support.microsoft.com
 Size of Word Document


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Styles not applied to all texts

Word makes judgments

When text is selected, Word must examine the styles that have been applied and determine which to keep and which to overwrite.

1. Type the following text:
   
   

This line will test how styles and formatting work in Word.

Select all the text, and then apply italic formatting.

Select all the text, and then apply a style such as Heading 1.

You notice that italic formatting is not retained.

Select all the text, apply the Normal style, and then remove the italic formatting.

Select "work in Word" in the text, and then apply the italic formatting.

Select all the text, and then apply the Heading 1 style.

You notice that the italic formatting is retained.

'This behavior occurs because Word uses a specific rule to determine whether to apply a style to selected text. According to this rule, Word applies a style depending on the percentage of the selected text that already has formatting applied. For example, if you already applied formatting to less than 50 percent of the selected text, this formatting is retained when you apply a style. If the selected text includes multiple paragraphs, Word first calculates the percentage of text that is formatted in the first paragraph. Then, it examines the paragraphs in the same range. If the formatting that is applied to the text in the paragraphs that follow the first paragraph differs from most of the formatting in the first paragraph, Word does not apply the style to the following paragraphs. Therefore, the formatting is retained in these paragraphs."

Support.Microsoft.com:
A style is not applied to all the selected text in Word


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Identify Formatting Inconsistencies

A suggestion I don't suggest

Microsoft Word can detect formatting inconsistencies as you type and then mark them with a blue, wavy underline.You may want to have all the headings in a document formatted the exact same way, but you inadvertently formatted some of them differently. Word can detect these inconsistencies as you are typing and underline them with a blue wavy line to alert you.

Microsoft Word File Tab:

1. On the menu, click Options, and then click Proofing.
   
2. Under Editing options, select the Keep track of formatting check box, if it is not already selected.
   
3. Under Editing options, select the Mark formatting inconsistencies check box.
   Formatting inconsistencies will be marked with blue, wavy underlines.
   
4. Click OK.
   
5. In your document, right-click the blue, wavy underline where a formatting inconsistency has occurred.
   
6. Do one of the following:
   To correct the inconsistency, click the command that describes the inconsistency.
   To have Word remove the blue, wavy underline and not correct this inconsistency, click Ignore Once.
   To skip all occurrences of the inconsistency in the document, click Ignore Rule.

ShaunaKelly.com:
How the Styles and Formatting pane works in Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003  

Styles in Word 2010


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