View source in word

Sometimes Word documents seem to be more or less break, usually when the layout has gotten quite complex and the document has changed hands and/or versions a couple of times. Symptoms may be that nothing happens when pressing the Backspace or Enter keys in a certain location of the document where it really should work, or that the formatting seems to apply and reset itself more or less randomly. I think we’ve all been there.

Often it can be very hard to know exactly what is wrong, since what happens under the hood in Word is quite opaque. You could have a document that looks empty, but in reality the underlying state regarding formatting etc can be quite complex.

In these cases it would be useful to peek at the source code behind what is shown on the page; like how you in a browser could do View Source, and ideally be able to do edits directly in the source code, like how you would do when using Latex. Is there a View Source-type command or utility for Microsoft Word documents?

My guess is that there is no such command, or I would have heard about it. If that is the case, does anyone have any good approach when it comes to getting a grip on annoying «hidden formatting» in a Word document?

I suspect there might be some differences in the .doc and .docx formats; I am interested in both cases.

To open the Source Manager, on the References tab, in the Citations &
Bibliography group, click the Manage Sources button:

In the Source Manager dialog box:

• In the Search field, search a source you need by any information you have: by some letters,
  words of the title, author, by year, etc.
• In the drop-down list at the upper right corner, change the sort order for the sources that will be
  displayed in the Bibliography, References or Works Cited:

  

  You can:

  • Sort by Author, this option is set by default as the most popular requirement.
  • Sort by Tag, the Tab name or Placeholder name field is a short and
    unique name for the source:

    

    The Tag name is generated automatically by Word when you add a new source. You can
    change it at any time to any other name, but you need to follow two rules: it must be
    unique and not contain spaces or special characters, only letters and numbers.

    Thus, by using the Sort by Tag method, you can create your own sort order.

  • Sort by Title, to sort, for example, sources that don’t have authors or if the
    authors don’t matter. Reasonable to use this method for Web sites,
    Electronic sources, or Films.
  • Sort by Year, to sort, for example, when you have some Journal
    Articles, Articles in a Periodical, or Reports
    by the same author and with the same or very similar title.
• The Master List on the left side shows all the sources that are stored in your local PC and
  that you can use.

  All the sources you have created in Word are stored in the XML file in your local PC. It can be
  stored in different locations, for example:

  C:Users<user_name>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftBibliographySources.xml

  You can import the source from any document to your local library and then use it in any other
  document (see
  how to create a citation
  for more details).

• The Current List on the right side shows the sources of the opened document. All these
  sources will be added to the Bibliography, References or Works Cites, even if
  you have deleted the corresponding citation in the body of the document:

  

  The sources marked with a question mark are placeholders, that should be filled before the final
  version of the Bibliography, References or Works Cites be created.
  Placeholder sources do not appear in the Bibliography.

  The sources marked with a tick or checkmark, are used in the document and will be included in the
  Bibliography.

  The sources without any mark, are not used, has not been cited in the document. These sources
  aren’t cited but will still appear in a bibliography.

• Between the Master List and Current List, there are several useful buttons:

  

  • The Copy -> (Copy <-) button can copy the sources from one
    list to another. You can import the source from any document to your Master List and
    from Master List to any other document (see
    how to create a citation
    for more details).

    The arrow next to Copy indicates the direction from which list the source will be
    copied (only the selected sources will be copied).

  • Using the Delete button, you can remove the selected source from the list.
  • The Edit… button opens the Edit Source dialog box, in which you can change
    or add any information you need (see
    how to change a citation
    for more details).
  • The New… button opens the Create Source dialog box, in which you can create
    a new source (see
    how to create a citation
    for more details).
• In the Preview zone, you can see the selected style (see more about
  different styles for the
  citation and the bibliography) and how the source will look in a citation and in the
  Bibliography.

See also this tip in French:
Comment gérer les sources.

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