Word crashes while Zotero adds citation

maexbln

OS: Win11
Zotero version: 7.0.5 (64-bit), word plug-in
Debug ID: D781260657

Hey all,

I have been using Zotero for some years now, mostly without any issues. Since last week, my entire word document crashes when I want to add a citation. The problem always occurs in the same pattern, which is described step by step below:

- I click on "add/edit citation"
- then I choose the literature and the pages that I want to quote
- then I click on enter
- for a moment, Zotero gets stuck in the processing bar
- then my entire word document crashes
- then a window pops up that says: "a problem occured, while your document was updated. Do you want to see an instruction for troubleshooting?"
- once I click on "yes", I am beeing forwarded to the following webpage: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/debugging_broken_documents

The Problem also occurs when I click on "add/edit bibliography"

The Debug ID is the following: D781260657

The pop-up window looks like this:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/zotero.org/images/forums/u7503521/syu5zxvdgl7ob3rswga3.jpg


Any help out there?

Thanks!

damnation

You should be following the 12 steps given on that link.

adomasven

What is the full version number of Word that you are using? Does it help if you remove the Table of Contents?

maexbln

@adomasven: Word forMicrosoft 365 MSO (Version 2408 Build 16.0.17928.20114) 64 Bit

maexbln

@damnation: I did. I followed until step 6. Problem does not re-appear in the new document. However, I dont know how sustainable it will be as the problem already occured in another document also.

@adomasven: I just updated my word version to Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2409 Build 16.0.18025.20030) 64 Bit

adomasven

You are running an insider Office 365 version. This is Microsoft's Beta of Office products. You should switch to a non-beta release, then follow the troubleshooting guide again if you are having issues.

maexbln

Thanks for your help!

I have been using the MS Office version indicated above for many years now, as it is provided by my university. I’ve never had any issues, while using MS and Zotero.

I provided a Debug ID above. Has anyone taken a look at it?

adomasven

The Debug ID is not really helpful in this case. Zotero is using official Microsoft APIs to provide its plugin. If Word crashes, it's a bug in Office. If this is your personal machine and you are using a university provided license, you should still uninstall the insider version and install the main release. Otherwise you will have to follow the troubleshooting guide.

maexbln

I just bought an official version of MS Office (Word 2021 MSO (16.0.14326.20450) 64-Bit).

However, the problem still persists in one specific document (the document I worked on until I started troubleshooting).

Will see how it works with the new version of Word. I keep you posted.

adomasven

FYI if you have a university provided license that allows you to install an insider version of Office, you can use it to also install a regular version. But the version number you have posted above is not recent (and also not available on the official Microsoft website, so not sure where you got it).

maexbln

Hey folks,

today, the problem occured again. In the new version of Word (which I got from a reliable store). So I started troubleshooting again. I followed until step 6, the problem does not re-occur.

I am right on the beginning of my master's thesis and quite cluesless, if troubleshooting will be the only solution for the upcoming months?

adomasven

Generally the Windows Word Zotero plugin works very well. People regularly write papers in the tens and even hundreds of pages without every having any problems. If citing in a document keeps breaking for you, there may be something specific about the way you are working with it that's causing the issue to be triggered. If you are able to find the steps to put the document into the broken state, let us know and we will see if it's a Zotero bug and if we can fix it.

You can also use step 12 on the problematic document to try and isolate the specific part of the document that's at fault and send it to support@zotero.org. Make sure to include the version of Word that you're using and a link to this thread.