Word 2007 skips footnote # and assigns it later out of order

[LWF]

I inherited a Word document that had one Word file pasted into another Word
file. I use Zord 2007 but it's possible (probable?) that at least one of the
other docs was in 2003.

The document skips footnote number 119, then creates # 119 after footnote #
135.

I've looked for section breaks, verified that there are no Track Changes
marks, and tried deleting various paragraph marks that might be harboring
some secret command. When I try deleting the footnote above (118) the
subsequent footnote numbering stays the same (i.e. 120 and up) instead of
re-numbering like it should.

 

[Stefan Blom]

To more easily see any section breaks, switch to Draft view and then show
nonprinting marks (for example by pressing Ctrl+Shift+8).

If there are no section breaks and numbering changes anyway, you are
probably dealing with static numbers, typed in to mimic footnotes.

~~~
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

 

[gr8auntieokie]

I've learned through 8 years of experience with Word that footnote problems
such as you describe almost always occur because the document you're working
in is not compatible with the version of Word on your hard drive.

To see what version of Word the document was created in, click on the pizza
button (MS Office button), Word Options, Advanced tab, and scroll down to the
bottom of the window. Under Compatibility options, where it says "Lay out
this document as if created in," if the version of Word in that dropdown
window says anything other than the version of Word you're working in, then
change that window to the version of Word that's on your hard drive. Then
click OK.
99 times out of a 100, the problem will vanish immediately.

We use Word 2007 in our office but we save _all_ of our documents as if they
were created in Word 2000 (because all our legacy documents WERE created in
Word 2000 and we haven't yet made the switchover to converting everything to
..DOCX-type documents). If I open a Word document that's compatible with Word
2007 or Word 2003, I MUST change that compatibility dropdown window to "Word
2000" or else I get weird footnote, header & footer, and other
section-break-controlled problems that disappear as soon as I reset the
compatibility to Word 2000. It's worth checking into....

Cyndie Browning
Software Support Specialist
GableGotwals
Tulsa, OK

 

[LWF]

Thanks to both of you for your responses. I tried everything that you both
suggested, with high hopes. Unfortunately, the problem continued. I did
come up with 2 more clues, which led to a "solution":
1) I noticed that when I went to the "References" tab and clicked on "Next
Footnote" the cursor would be positioned just to the left of the footnote
number on the good pre-missing footnote (e.g. cursor118), but the cursor
would be positioned after the 2nd (of 3) numbers in the footnotes after the
missing footnote number (e.g. 12cursor6). I'm not sure what that means but
it seems to indicate that the program wasn't recognizing the footnotes the
same way.

2) I also learned that I was able to create good new footnotes prior to the
"missing" footnote number; in this way the missing number shifted down (so
then it was 120 that was missing).

I decided to take advantage of the ripple effect in item 2 above, and just
continue to create a new footnote, then move the content from the
post-missing-footnote-number to the new pre-missing-footnote-number, and
repreat that 15 times, thus working the problem spot down thru the document
to the end. Then I was able to create my new-new footnotes with 136 and so
on.

Not an elegant solution, but it got the job done.

 

[gr8auntieokie]

<< I decided to take advantage of the ripple effect in item 2 above, and just
continue to create a new footnote, then move the content from the
post-missing-footnote-number to the new pre-missing-footnote-number, and
repreat that 15 times >>

I was gonna suggest that, but then thought you might think it too mechanical
and maybe "old school." Still, the old ways did get the job done when needed.
Good for you for thinkin' of it. ~

Cyndie Browning
Software Support Specialist
GableGotwals
Tulsa, OK