Word 2013 cross referencing issue: 'cross-reference' pop-up window menu does not appear
I am a long time Word user and have used the cross-reference feature on previous Word versions (2010, 2003) without issues. This is not the case anymore after moving to Word 2013 recently.
The problem persists and I cannot determine if this is a hardware related issue or something that can be fixed within MS Word.
At seemingly random times, the Cross-Reference pop-up window menu does not appear. For clarity, the image below shows the pop-up window that appears (Yes, I know that looks like Word 2010; this is not my image.)
After clicking the Cross-Reference option in References/Captions, the scroll bars flash and nothing happens. This issue is resolved by restarting Word and the opening the same file.
I am curious if anyone is having similar issues, or knows of a way to resolve this. I am flummoxed.
A screenshot of the issue that is described above.
Pre-click is the top screenshot, and during-click is bottom. After the click, everything reverts to pre-click image.
EDIT 1: The issue turned out to be related to multiple monitors, which isn't mentioned in the question. Try below resolution if you are having related problems.
6 Answers
Upon lots of trial and error, I have finally stumbled on the solution. No research/literature/references/sources to provide here, just experience.
The fix is:
- Close all instances of Word that are running, including other non-problem Word documents.
- Open up the problem Word document, but before clicking on the references, make sure this document is located in another monitor, not the same monitor you just used.
- As for background info, I have 3 monitors total attached to my laptop (1 laptop display, 2 external monitors). I was trying to do my Word work in the largest of these displays, and was getting this ghost References error. However, when I had the .doc open in another window and hit the References button, the Reference pop-up window appeared fine on another monitor.
- Check that references option again. The pop-up box should now appear in one of your monitors!
I hope this is helpful for others experiencing this in the future! Message me if you have questions.
2Any window suspect of being off the screen can be recovered with a few key strokes. This solution applies to any window or application on windows.
First, note that when you expect to see the window, The Word title bar changes. In my Windows 7 with Office 2016, the window title text will turn from white to grey.
Alternately the application might flash when you click on it and be otherwise unresponsive, indicating that there's what we call a "modal dialog window" open (a blocking window)
These are the prime indicators that a pop up window is active somewhere. Don't click anywhere, use the fact that the hidden popup window is active to your advantage. Do the key combination Alt-Space, the following dialog should pop up (but of course you can't see it because it is with your window you can't find)
Now type the "M" key which will put the window into "Move" mode, then type an arrow key and the mouse will then be attached to the window. Don't click the mouse! Move the mouse around and you will immediately see your window; click and the mouse will let go, and there you have your window back.
(in the old days if you hit a horizontal arrow, the window would only move left or right and be locked vertically until you hit a vertical button, so I still have the habit of hitting left then up)
2Failing this, just head to task manager, Expand Microsoft Word, and end the task "Cross-reference". Now go back to the document(s) in question, click on the Cross-reference button in the References Tab, and it should pop back up. Worth a shot anyway.
I had the same issue with cross-reference not showing when using an external monitor on the following system:
- Word version: 16.0.13801.20288 64-bit
- OS: windows 10
Automatically hiding the taskbar at the bottom of the screen containing the application solved the issue in my case.
I also have three monitors of various sizes and orientations. I observe exactly the same problem. The problem is general: it occurs with other applications that pop open a window. The applications open the pop-up in a part of the large virtual rectangular screen that is just outside of the viewing space shown by the existing three monitors. The above solution will work but here's a cleaner solution (at least in Windows 7): If you don't see a pop-up window, before you click on any screen, press Windows-left-arrow or Windows-right-arrow. This will move the pop-up into one of your three windows.
2Note: Word 2016 on Windows 10 has the same issue. Closing all instances of MS Word and reopening the document temporarily resolves the issue, however, I'm still unable to edit a caption or reference without having to restart all over again.
