Error Report # 1432092804: Editing a citation with the Word plug-in repeatedly fails & crashes Word

stankapl
edited August 18, 2022
All attempts to use the plug-in to edit a citation fail. The result is a crash of Word and sometimes a crash of Zotero as well. I have reinstalled Zotero, reinstalled the plug-in, and removed all other add-ins from Word, but these steps have not fixed the problem. My copy of Zotero.dotm is dated August 16, 2022.
  • dstillman
    edited August 17, 2022
    See Reporting Problems for the two things we need to help.

    We also need the exact Word version and the citation style you're using.
  • stankapl
    Word for Microsoft 365 MSO, Version 2207, Build 16.0.15427.20182, 64 bit

    Chicago, 17th edition, full note.
  • stankapl
    When I insert citations using the plug-in they are sometimes appearing with underline, which is really strange.
  • stankapl
    And I have tried the recommending fixes, such as moving the text to a new document, renaming the file, and not using OneDrive.
  • dstillman
    edited August 17, 2022
    The underline is normal — that's just because you disabled "Automatically update citations".

    Does it work in a new document? If so, see Troubleshooting Errors in Word Processor Documents for your existing document. It sounds like you tried some of that, but as the last step explains, unless you can clear the document completely and still reproduce the problem, that step will by definition identify or fix the problem.
  • stankapl
    It does not work in a new document, and I tried the solutions in the Troubleshooting page.
  • dstillman
    edited August 17, 2022
    The "Troubleshooting Errors in Word Processor Documents" page isn't relevant at all if it doesn't work in a new document, as it says at the top.

    To be clear, I'm asking about a new, completely empty document, not a copy of your existing document.

    Does it work in a completely new document? If not, what if you select an author-date citation style (e.g., APA 7)?

    Have you used the Word plugin on this computer before? If so, what happened on your computer since the last time it worked?
  • stankapl
    I've used the plug-in before, maybe five months ago. It worked great.

    APA and other inline citation styles -- in a brand new, blank document, these work fine. However if I use Chicago or another footnote style, such as Modern Humanities Research, Word crashes if I try to edit the citation. So the problem seems to have something to do with footnote styles.

    Unfortunately I am required to use Chicago and footnotes.
  • dstillman
    edited August 19, 2022
    There was recently a similar freeze due to a bug in Word for Mac when using footnotes, but we haven't received other reports from Windows, and that bug was fixed.

    You can try 1) disabling any other add-ins/templates you have installed, 2) resetting Normal.dotm, 2) 3einstalling Word, or 3) 4reating a new OS user account to see if there's something in this account that's interfering, though that last one is a bit more annoying to do.

    If all else fails, you could use an author-date style for now and just plan to change styles on another computer or in a later Word version before you need to submit your document.
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