Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Fixing Word.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 1, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365
Word includes an esoteric command that allows the program to "fix" itself. This means that you can instruct the program to examine all its components and reload them from the original installation CD-ROMs. In order to start this process in Word, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Macros dialog box.
This starts the process. You may be prompted by the program to shut certain documents or programs in order for the fixing to finish. Follow the instructions, as prompted.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1232) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Fixing Word.
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2023-10-30 10:20:51
J. Woolley
@Kiwerry
Thank you. As expected, a formula that includes an array but returns a single value does not need to be entered using Ctrl+Shift+Enter in any version of Excel.
The previous statement has a corollary that is also applicable to any version of Excel. If you select a SINGLE CELL and use Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter a formula that returns an array like
=ISNUMBER(8:8)
the result is a single value which is the first element of the returned array.
2023-10-29 13:11:53
Kiwerry
@J . Woolley:
I copied =INDEX(ISNUMBER(8:8),1,1) into a cell in Excel 2010 and simply pressed Enter;
it worked as expected (Cell A8 contained a number, result TRUE), even when I changed the last argument to 2 (Cell B8 contained text, result FALSE). HTH.
2023-10-28 11:28:30
J. Woolley
The Tip does not explain how its first two formulas work. Using its second formula for example:
The array (8:8<>"")*(8:8<=100) contains 1 for each cell in row 8 that is not blank and is <=100; otherwise, it contains 0 for that cell. (The numeric value of TRUE is -1 and FALSE is 0. Multiplication converts TRUE AND TRUE to 1; if either is FALSE, the result is 0.)
MATCH(1,(8:8<>"")*(8:8<=100),0) returns the column number of the first cell in array (8:8<>"")*(8:8<=100) that is exactly 1 (TRUE AND TRUE).
ROW(8:8) returns row number 8.
ADDRESS(ROW(8:8),MATCH(...)) returns the final result in absolute A1 style (like $E$8). For relative A1 style, use ADDRESS(ROW(8:8),MATCH(...),4).
2023-10-28 10:47:23
J. Woolley
Excel 365 and 2021+ support dynamic arrays. I have a question about older versions that do not.
Each of the Tip's first two formulas include an array but return a single result. Do they really need to be entered using Ctrl+Shift+Enter in older versions of Excel?
I recognize this formula
=ISNUMBER(8:8)
returns an array with 1 row and all columns, so in older versions it must be entered by first selecting all of row 8 then pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
But the following formula returns a single result from the array:
=INDEX(ISNUMBER(8:8),1,1)
Do similar formulas that include an array but return a single result need to be entered using Ctrl+Shift+Enter in older versions of Excel? I ask this question because my Excel 365 supports dynamic array formulas, but I wonder how older versions work. Will someone with an older version please try the last example and report their result?
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here:
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