Microsoft Word troubleshooting and how-to guides
When you update a cross-reference in Word, you may see the error “Reference source not found” inside the field instead of the expected text or page number. This error occurs because the target bookmark, heading, or numbered item that the cross-reference points to no longer exists or has been moved. This article explains why the … Read more
If your Word footnotes restart at 1 on each page instead of continuing sequentially through the document, you are seeing a numbering mode designed for legal or academic drafts. This behavior occurs when the footnote numbering option is set to restart on each page or each section. This article explains the specific setting that controls … Read more
When you run a mail merge in Word, dates from your Excel data source often change to the US month-day-year format like 04/12/2025 instead of your local format like 12 April 2025. This happens because Word treats date fields as raw numbers and applies its own default formatting during the merge. This article explains why … Read more
When you run a mail merge in Word and try to connect to an Excel workbook as the data source, you may see an error message that says Word cannot open the data source or cannot establish a connection. This problem usually happens because of a mismatch between the data provider used by Word and … Read more
You run a mail merge in Word to print address labels, but the text on each label does not line up with the label sheets. Addresses are shifted up, down, left, or right, and some text may be cut off at the label edges. This misalignment is almost always caused by a mismatch between the … Read more
You export a Word document to PDF, but the table of contents entries are no longer clickable links. Instead of jumping to each section, clicking a TOC line does nothing. This happens because Word’s default PDF export settings strip the hyperlinks from the TOC field codes. This article explains the specific setting that controls hyperlink … Read more
Your Word document looks correct in the editing view, but when you open Print Preview, the page breaks shift, text spills onto extra pages, or content gets cut off. This mismatch happens because the editing view and the print layout engine use different rendering rules, especially when graphics drivers, printer drivers, or compatibility settings interfere. … Read more
When you open a Word document that contains linked images, you may experience a long delay before the file becomes usable. This happens because Word attempts to connect to the external image sources and refresh the links each time the document loads. The delay can last from several seconds to over a minute depending on … Read more
Word freezes or becomes unresponsive when you scroll through the Comments pane on the right side of the document window. This problem typically occurs in documents with many comments, tracked changes, or complex formatting elements like embedded images and tables. The freeze is caused by a conflict between the graphics rendering engine and the real-time … Read more
You set Word to save files to a local folder, but every time you open the Save As dialog, it jumps back to OneDrive. This forces you to navigate away from your preferred folder each time you save a new document. The issue occurs because Word’s default save location is tied to a registry setting … Read more