Share via

Equation Editor greyed out in Word 2010

Anonymous
2011-01-21T16:06:36+00:00

I have Office 2010 Home & Student Edition. On the insert tab the Equation button is greyed out even though Equation Editor 3 is installed and working in OneNote. Does anyone know a solution?

The Microsoft Mathematics addon for Word is also not working, though again it is for OneNote: I suspect the cause is the same.

I'd welcome any advice.

Michael

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous
2012-04-11T20:26:36+00:00

After poking around in more obscure locations I've found the likely cause of this (was for mine). The document being worked on is not in the current Word 2010 file format and therefore not compatible with Equation 3.0.

Solution:  Click File tab, under Info, you should see there a "Convert" button indicating "Compatibility Mode". Click that to convert the document to a true Word 2010 file, thereby allowing use of the new/enhanced features, including the Equation Editor!

Was this answer helpful?

500+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

14 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-30T15:39:14+00:00

    After poking around in more obscure locations I've found the likely cause of this (was for mine). The document being worked on is not in the current Word 2010 file format and therefore not compatible with Equation 3.0.

    Solution:  Click File tab, under Info, you should see there a "Convert" button indicating "Compatibility Mode". Click that to convert the document to a true Word 2010 file, thereby allowing use of the new/enhanced features, including the Equation Editor!

    Also, make sure that in the Save Options for Word that the default file format or "Save files in this format:" is set to Word Document (*.docx).  If you do not have this set (native format) when working on a new document, then you will not be able to insert an equation until you either Save the document into a docx format or convert the existing document as indicated above.

    Solution 2: Click File tab, then select Options.  Within the dialog box click on Save on the left then change the Drop-Down box for Save files in this format to Word Document (*.docx).  Then click OK.  You can then either Restart Word or Open a New Document.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-05-01T11:49:07+00:00

    Note that Equation 3.0 is the old editor, provided by Design Science (makers of MathType). Even in a legacy (Compatibility Mode) document, you can use the old editor by going through Insert | Text | Object | Object | Microsoft Equation 3.0. Unfortunately, it's no longer possible to add an Insert Equation button for this editor on the toolbar; the closest you can get is an Insert Object button, which at least saves a few clicks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-09T03:11:12+00:00

    Thank you for that!

    Julie

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2011-01-21T16:56:50+00:00

    You will get expert advice from Microsoft Office Word forum.

    Here is one of the links to one of the categories :

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wordcreate/threads

    For the benefits of others looking for answers, please mark the suggestion as Answered if it solves your problem.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments