Issues with .dotm template not Enabling in Word

matthewmminton · 2026-04-10T16:15:08+00:00

Hi there --

We have followed the template fix that is recommended online for manually moving the .dotm path to the Appdata/Roaming/MicrosoftWord etc. path, but for whatever reason, even though the add-in is marked as enabled in word, it will not show until disabled and then re-enabled inside of the word add-in settings.

Is this something other individuals are seeing? Any fix for this?

dstillman · 2026-04-10T18:05:09+00:00

"Appdata/Roaming/MicrosoftWord" isn't any path we refer to. You should be specific about where the Zotero.dotm file is installed and provide some screenshot from Word that show your configuration.

matthewmminton · 2026-04-10T19:25:17+00:00

Hi there, DStillman. This is the path it's at: Roaming\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP

We followed this article for troubleshooting: https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/word_processor_plugin_installation_error

The plug-in works, particularly after enabling macros, but we have to continually go in and toggle the template off/on in add-in settings to get it to show after fresh boot.

It does not show at all without manually adding the dotm template to the path mentioned in the article here.

Sincerely,
Matt

dstillman · 2026-04-10T19:27:59+00:00

You should make sure you've confirmed that that's the active Word Startup folder. Word loads and enables templates from there by default, so if that's not working, either you've changed the folder or there's some other problem in your local Word installation. This wouldn't be a Zotero problem — we just put the .dotm in the correct folder.