Unable to add citation to documents

evaengel

I am getting the error "Zotero experienced an error updating your document". After following the steps listed on the attached help document its still having the same issue. We have uninstalled zotero, checked all the security settings, and made sure everything was up to date. Any assistance would be great.

adomasven

Submit a Report ID from Zotero after the receiving the error. What word processor and what version are you using?

evaengel

I can't get a report ID for the error. All I see is the error message in Word. I am using Word version 2404 and the newest version of Zotero.

dstillman

You can always submit a Report ID. Follow the link Adomas provided.

evaengel

Here's my report id: 573553969

adomasven

You should follow the final step of Troubleshooting Errors in Word Processor Documents instructions. Once you isolate the snippet which causes the issue send it to support@zotero.org

evaengel

Thanks for the advice! I isolated the problem: even when my document has no text, inserting a citation (one linked to a webpage) creates the error.

dstillman

That’s if you clear the contents of the document completely? Does it work in a new document? If so, send the empty document that doesn’t work via email.

evaengel

Ok, I have emailed the empty document to zotero support.

dstillman

This happens on all empty word documents, and I have attached one such document to this email.

Oh, but if this is happening in all empty documents, that page isn't relevant and there's nothing for us to look at — as it notes at the top of the page, those steps are only for when it works in a new document but fails in an existing document.

So just to confirm, you're saying you open a new, empty document and click Add/Edit Citation and you get an error?

Has it worked before on this computer?

evaengel

Yes, when I open a new, empty document and click Add/Edit Citation, I get an error. it used to work on this computer with no issues/errors.

dstillman

Can you provide a Debug ID (different from a Report ID) for reproducing this in a new, empty document?

After that, go to your Word Startup folder and delete Zotero.dotm, and then restart Word to confirm that Zotero is gone completely from Word. Then reinstall the plugin from the Cite pane of the Zotero settings. This will make sure that you're using the latest version of the plugin.

If the problem still occurs after that, you might have made some change to your Normal.dotm file. Find your Normal.dotm file under C:\Users\user name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates and move it somewhere else temporarily (like your desktop), and then restart Word.

evaengel

Debug ID is D91166278.

evaengel

I can't find the word startup folder. When I type %AppData% into the address bar of word file explorer, all I get is files with the starting path "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Packages\". There is no Roaming folder, only RoamingState under AppData\Local\Packages.

dstillman

Does this happen with any citation style (e.g., APA 7th edition)? If not, what style are you using?

I'm not sure why %AppData% is taking you to Packages, but you can manually go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming and then follow the rest of the instructions.