Add-ins may not be available after you upgrade to Word 2007

You upgrade an earlier version of Microsoft Word to Microsoft Office Word 2007. After you do this, the add-ins that were installed in the earlier version of Word may not be available in Word 2007.

This issue occurs because the 2007 Microsoft Office suite uses a different Startup folder for global add-ins than the Startup folder that earlier versions of Microsoft Office used.

Note The Startup folders for the various versions of Office are located as follows:

• Microsoft Office 2000:
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office9\Startup
• Microsoft Office XP:
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Startup
• Microsoft Office 2003 Editions:
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Startup
• 2007 Microsoft Office:
  C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Startup

Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Office Word 2003, and Word 2007 all use the following Startup folder:

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Note Some Word add-ins from earlier versions of Word may not function correctly with the Ribbon interface in Word 2007. If these methods do not restore an add-in, or if an add-in does not function as expected, you must contact the add-in manufacturer for a Word 2007-compatible add-in.

Method 1: Reinstall the add-ins

This is the preferred method to restore add-ins. When you reinstall add-ins, you make sure that all files and settings are in the correct location for the add-ins.

However, some of the setup programs for add-ins are designed to install on only the earlier version of Word. Therefore, the programs cannot be used with Word 2007. In this case, you may have to manually move the add-ins from the original Office Startup folder to the Office 2007 Startup folder (see "Method 2: Manually move the add-ins").

Method 2: Manually move the add-ins

When you use this method, only the add-ins that are in the earlier version of the Office Startup folder are moved to the Office 2007 Startup folder. If add-ins in the Word Startup folder do not function as expected, these add-ins may be incompatible with Word 2007. In this case, you must contact the add-in manufacturer for a Word 2007-compatible version of the add-in.

To manually move the add-ins, follow these steps.

Note These steps assume that the earlier version of Word is Word 2003. For other versions of Word, refer to the list of Office Startup folders in the "Cause" section to find the add-ins that you want to move.

1. Close Word 2007.
2. Click Start, click Run, type "%programfiles%\Microsoft Office\Office11\Startup" in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Click Edit, and then click Select All.
4. Click Edit, and then click Copy.
5. Click Start, click Run, type "%programfiles%\Microsoft Office\Office12\Startup" in the Open box, and then click OK.
6. Click Edit, and then click Paste.

For more information about problems that you may experience when you use add-ins in Word 2007, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: