Participating Frequently

Question

Importing a Word document does not create a link

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
March 18, 2025
3 replies
2031 views

I have "create a link to text or spreadsheet" checked, but whenever I import a Word file, the link does not show up in InDesign under "links."

Any guidance on this?

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Related to this thread, I have a question: How do you remove a word docx link that is listed in the Links panel (even after going so far as to delete the word docx from its original folder)? There is no Remove Link command?

Mike Witherell

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

@Mike Witherell Just right-click on the Word file in the Links panel and Unlink.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

Duh. I always forget about right-clicking!

Mike Witherell

James Gifford—NitroPress

Legend

FWIW, linking to a Word document is a very limited feature with few advantages to just a one-time Place.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

In theory, it works but can be problematic. All paragraph and character styles must be applied in Word, then matched up to styles during import. Also, one must remove overrides every time the link is updated.

Em Software WordsFlow is a much better option.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

S

stel_3299Author

Participating Frequently

Omg, that looks like exactly what I need!

My InDesign version is 20.2 with Windows 11 Enterprise 23H2.

After more tests, I've narrowed down the issue. I can't link into already created text boxes.

But the link does work for new text boxes.

I'm using a template someone else created so to move forward I would need to redo all text boxes. I can't even create a new text box with the link and thread into existing boxes or the link disappears.

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

It's working on my system. Confirm that the preference is selected after placing.

What is the extension on the file?

OS platform and OS version?

InDesign version?

(Exact numbers, please.)

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

S

stel_3299Author

Participating Frequently

Windows 11. It's my wirk machine so I assume an enterprise edition. It's a .docx file. Latest Creative Cloud version updated a few days ago.

Not in front of my computer right now, but I'll check the setting after I place to make sure.

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