Zotero toolbar doesn't appear in Word 2021 Mac Ventura

amphioxus
I've followed all the instructions at https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_troubleshooting
Zotero.dotm file appears in Word's startup location and in Word's Tools/Templates and Add-ins.
Zotero Word for Mac Integration is enabled in in Zotero/Tools/Add-ons.
I've restarted Word and Zotero and reinstalled Zotero.
It doesn't show up when I have a new blank document, or the old one with cites.
Any hints? It all worked in Word 2011, and cites show and work at the end of my book on the history of fluid dynamics. But no toolbar, so no way to add new cites. What am I missing?
Thanks, ~Philip
  • adomasven
    See https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_troubleshooting#tab_does_not_appear_in_word_2016

    Make sure the template is present and checked in Global Templates.
  • amphioxus
    Thanks.

    Yep, it says (from the beginning, so no change):
    Global Templates and Add-ins.
    Checked items are currently loaded.
    √ Zotero.dotm

    l even restarted the Mac. Next?
  • adomasven
    Find your Normal.dotm file and try to move it somewhere else (like your desktop), then restart Word. This will regenerate your Word layout settings if you or someone/something else has modified them.
  • amphioxus
    I moved and deleted Normal.dotm a bunch of times, restarting Word. Its location also made no difference. Still no Z with drop-down menu.
    Zotero.dotm still appears in Word startup items.
  • dstillman
    Is this an institutional computer? On Windows this can sometimes be due to Word add-ins being blocked by policy on a system level. I'm not sure if that's possible on macOS, but if this is an institutional computer it'd be worth asking your IT department. If Zotero.dotm is ticked in Templates and Add-ins, it should definitely show up.

    If you haven't, you should also delete Zotero.dotm from the startup folder, restart Word to confirm that it's completely gone in Templates and Add-ins, and then reinstall from the Cite pane of the Zotero preferences and restart Word to confirm that you have the latest version of the .dotm.
  • amphioxus
    Hi Dstillman, Adomasven,

    Nope, not institutional. Private Mac M2, Ventura, Word 2021 Mac.
    All new within the last week, though a big file is from Word 2011, where Zotero 'Z' dropdown showed.

    I deleted Zotero.dotm from Word's startup folder, used Cite reinstall. It shows up, but I have to manually re-check (highlight) it each time I restart word. And then when I close Word's Startup I get a message, "This document contains macros. Do you want to disable macros before opening the file." Which makes no difference.

    Also, now each time I start Word I get a window saying, "The global template, NORMAL.DOTM, is already open as an add-in program." -- no matter how many times I delete normal.dotm and let Word recreate it.

    I could send screenshots if that would help.

    I appreciate your efforts. Eh?
  • dstillman
    I'm afraid you'll need to ask Microsoft for help or check some Word forums. None of this is a Zotero problem — Zotero.dotm is a standard Word template, and it sounds like you have various problems involving Normal.dotm and/or your Word installation more generally.
    All new within the last week, though a big file is from Word 2011, where Zotero 'Z' dropdown showed.
    The Zotero tab doesn't appear in documents — it has nothing to do with what document you have open. It's entirely about your Word installation. When you start Word, it just loads .dotm files from the Word startup folder.
  • amphioxus
    Yup, I know Zotero tab doesn't appear in documents. It should be up top, in the Word menu bar, like before. I did wonder if some old garbage got carried along with old Word documents, but you imply that's unlikely. And probably not some Zot incompatibility with Ventura or Apple silicon. More likely, as you say, something to do with Word.
    Thanks for trying.
  • dstillman
    No, I mean it doesn't appear in the toolbar based on what document you have open. So opening a file from Word 2011 that you used Zotero with is irrelevant.
  • amphioxus
    Solved, with the most basic information missing. But: "The Zotero tab doesn't appear in documents?" Either incorrect or unclear.

    I kept wondering why it didn't appear. It was there all the time. MS had just changed where. It was hidden, an Easter egg hunt, inside individual document ribbons.

    In Word 2011, Zotero toolbar appeared independent of documents, and a 'Z' with a pull-down menu showed in Word's menu bar. It was blatant, and not in documents ribbons or tool bars.

    By Word 2021, MS had moved add-ins into the Home toolbar ribbons of individual documents. But there wasn't room for it, so it was hidden to the right of two carrots (>> more).

    So it was just MS hide-and-go-seek.

    The best troubleshooting guide I found helped because it was visual:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltuW1kCuh10


  • dstillman
    No, you're misunderstanding what I was saying, and misunderstanding how the ribbon works. There are no "individual document ribbons" — it's just the main Office toolbar interface that's been around for over a decade. You were talking about opening specific files in which you had used Zotero previously, so I was explaining that the presence of the Zotero tab in the ribbon doesn't have anything to do with the document you have open. But the ribbon is where the Zotero tab has appeared in all Word versions since Word 2011 — I didn't realize you had just upgraded from Word 2011 and didn't know where to look.

    I don't actually recall anyone ever not finding the tab in the ribbon (most people don't have lots of other add-ins), which is why it's not in our troubleshooting documentation, but it's true that the arrows for the overflow indicator are bizarrely hard to see.
  • dstillman
    (I guess you mean that the ribbon appears in each document window you have open, but it's still not a "document ribbon" — it's just part of the basic window UI.)
  • amphioxus
    The most basic information is often left out by persons who know so much they take it for granted.

    The basic information was that Word used to blatantly display Zotero, but it will seem like it has disappeared with newer Word versions because it is now in a semi-hidden location.

    That basic "Where do we see it now?" information could be included in Zotero's troubleshooting guide.
  • dstillman
    edited February 17, 2023
    It's not in a "semi-hidden location". It's a prominent "Zotero" tab at the end of the ribbon. It's almost never hidden for people.

    Again, I don't recall anyone ever being confused by this, at least in many years, and we help dozens of people here a day. Most people haven't run Word 2011 in years, and most people don't have their window very narrow or have third-party add-ins that would push the Zotero tab out of view. It's just not an issue, and it wasn't clear from your description that you had never used a modern version of Word before. I'm glad you resolved this, but adding something to the main documentation for a problem no one is experiencing just makes basic troubleshooting harder for the problems people are actually having.
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