Microsoft Word troubleshooting and how-to guides
When you open a Word document or template that contains macros, the macros may fail to run even though you have enabled macros in the Trust Center. This problem commonly occurs on a signed Office installation where the template is not digitally signed by a trusted publisher or the macro security settings are configured to … Read more
When you insert high-resolution photos into a Word document, the file size can grow fast. Large files are harder to email and slow to open. You want to shrink the file without visible quality loss when the document is printed on paper. This article explains how Word compresses images, the exact settings to preserve print-quality … Read more
You apply a new style to a paragraph and the image you carefully placed next to it suddenly shifts to a different paragraph. The anchor icon moves, the image floats far from its intended text, and your layout breaks. This happens because Word anchors each floating image to a specific paragraph, and changing the style … Read more
When you insert a Scalable Vector Graphics SVG file into Word, the program often converts the graphic to a PNG image when you save the document. This conversion removes the scaling benefits of the SVG format, making the image blurry when enlarged or edited later. The conversion happens because Word defaults to treating SVG files … Read more
You insert an image in Word and see the full picture in the crop tool preview. But after you confirm the crop, the image appears cropped or clipped in the document. This mismatch happens because the crop tool preview shows the image at its original aspect ratio, while Word applies the image container’s dimensions from … Read more
Screen readers rely on alt text to describe images for users who are blind or have low vision. Without it, a picture is invisible to assistive technology. Word provides a built-in Alt Text pane where you can add a meaningful description to any image, shape, chart, or SmartArt graphic. This article explains how to write … Read more
You open a Word document that you saved hours ago, and the images you carefully sized are now stretched, shrunk, or misaligned. This happens because Word stores image size data differently depending on the file format and how the image was inserted. The cause is often a conflict between the image’s native resolution, the text … Read more
You add an image to a Word document and carefully position it. Then you edit the text above it, and the image shifts. This happens because the image is anchored to a paragraph. When that paragraph moves, the image follows. This article explains how to lock an image to a fixed position on the page … Read more
You replace a JPEG file on your hard drive with an updated version, but Word still shows the old image. This happens because Word does not automatically re-import image data when the source file changes. Instead, Word stores a copy of the original image inside the document at the moment you insert it. This article … Read more
When you insert an image into a Word document, the default behavior embeds a copy of the image file into the document. This means if the original image file on your computer or network is later edited, the copy in Word does not change. To keep your document graphics current without manually replacing each picture, … Read more