3 Reasons Word Sucks for Formatting (and how I’m dealing with it)

I have been formatting documents in Word for at least 30 years, and I made it easy for myself by modifying Word’s styles to format the way I need them to. I have different sets of styles in my own Word templates.

Recently, I’ve found it frustrating to use Word and the templates I’ve developed (and I’m blaming Word).

Here are the top three issues I’ve been having using Word to format a document right now. (I just installed the latest version and am trying to navigate the “upgrades”).

1. It tries to think for me. As I mentioned, I have been doing this for over 30 years now, and I know what I’m doing in Word. I really don’t appreciate when a tool that I am supposed to be in control of does its own thing instead of doing what I’ve directed it to do. This issue started about a decade ago, and this last iteration of Word seems the worst. I understand that some folks need help but I don’t want it. Please, let it be easy for me to turn off a function when I don’t want to use it (which for me would be never). When dealing with a specific style guide or formatting instruction, it is important that I am the one in control, not the tool.
2. Upgrades mess up what I’ve already made. Every time there is a Word upgrade, it seems to mess with my templates. Unfortunately, I never know what part is going to be changed, and so I have to go through each element and check. Sometimes, a feature is turned off for one upgrade of the application, only to be turned back on in the next (I’m looking at you insert alignment tab). And often, one client’s file will work fine in my template, while another will not. While this is probably due to their use of a different version of Word, it would be nice if Microsoft could provide a comprehensive list of what is compatible (and more important for me, incompatible) between versions, especially when it comes to its inherent functions (like autonumbering and those styles I keep mentioning).
3. Word Online. I mean, in my opinion, just don’t use it. I understand why it was developed (everyone is shifting to work in “the cloud” but it has a lot of limitations. Especially when it comes to Word’s styles (which I think is one of Word’s strengths when used properly). It doesn’t recognize customized styles, so I can’t even begin to format the way I like when using it. And if I have used one of my templates, and a client opens the file in Word Online (i.e., we’re using One Drive), it changes the format. Page numbers will be blue and shaded, so will other items in the header and footer, and it is a painful process to correct these back to how the client needs them to be. Indenting won’t display properly (inciting the client to try to fix it), which only makes it worse as it would have printed properly if left alone. It should come with a warning to only use it online and without ever opening your file in a desktop version. Microsoft put out a notice that they weren’t entirely compatible, but I think users need a little bit more information. It took a lot of time and effort for me to compile a list of formatting to ignore when viewing a document in the Online Word to help make it easier for my clients moving from desktop to online and back again.

My biggest peeve about all of this is that I used the functions available in Word (I didn’t code my own macros). I thought I was following the “rules” but apparently I’m not. Or I’m just not keeping up with them.

So, what am I doing about it? I deal with it, grumbling the whole time.

The first task I perform when there is an upgrade or update to Word is make a copy of my templates and play with them in the new version. I make note of what’s “broken” and what works differently. I check the Miscrosoft website forums to see if there is a notice about any of the functions I rely on, and add that to my personal notes.

And then, once I have a good understanding of what any issues are, I update my templates (again, by making a new copy so I can always go back to an unmodified template if a modification doesn’t work as I expect or breaks something else).

I also look for how to turn off any functions I don’t like or won’t use. Sometimes, this takes me a while to figure out, so, if anyone knows how to turn off the new AI ‘I’ll write for you” function, please tell me. I really need to save my sanity for my editing.