Fixing Persistent Template Corruption

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated July 25, 2015)

Brad was having problems with one of his Word templates. The template, after being used once or twice, would routinely get "corrupted." This corruption would manifest itself through the appearance of improper AutoCorrect entries in his document.

The problem in this case may not be the AutoCorrect entries, but the actual template itself. Templates—particularly those with lots of elements in them—can easily become very complex and therefore easy to corrupt.

It is impossible to determine the exact cause of a problem without some amount of trial and error. In this case, try the following:

  • If you are using Word 2003, open the template file directly using Open and Repair. (Select the template file in the Option dialog box, then click the down-arrow at the right side of the Open button.) This will check the file to see if Word can locate and fix any corruption.
  • Use the Organizer to copy styles, macros, and other elements from the existing template to a new template file. This will help to clear up some problems that may exist in the actual structural framework of the existing template file.
  • Reduce the complexity of the template by splitting it into several template files. Place macros in one, styles in another, etc. Attach them to your document as global templates; this allows you to attach more than one each document.
  • Protect your template files so they are "read only." This should be done at a Windows level, outside of Word. This will protect the templates so that nothing can be written to them. (Corruption most often happens through writing to a file.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (150) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Checking for Incorrect Numbers in Text

Word's grammar checker can help you correct many of the more common errors that can crop up while writing. This includes ...

Discover More

Changing Shortcut Properties

Want to change how a shortcut behaves when you double-click it? Just display the Properties dialog box for the shortcut ...

Discover More

Replacing Commas with Periods

Want to replace all commas in a formatted number with periods, and vice-versa? There are a couple of approaches you can ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Templates and Page Setup

Templates are a great way to share styles, macros, and other settings among various documents. One thing that isn't ...

Discover More

What Changes Did I Make In that Template?

When you make changes that affect a template, Word usually asks you if you want to save those changes when you exit the ...

Discover More

Creating a Boilerplate Document

If you have several boilerplate documents you need to routinely use in Word, then you should learn how to use templates. ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 6 - 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.