Linked Excel table with preserve formatting doesn't update correctly when inserting a row

Question

I think I have found a bug in the current version of Word 365.  If you have a linked excel and preserve formatting selected, the formatting breaks when inserting a line in the table.

Steps to reproduce:

Step1:

Create blank excel document

Create a simple table of data in Excel

Select the table and give it a bookmark name:

Save the file

Step2:

Link this into word and update the source of the link to use the reference instead of a row set.

Set the table layout to "Autofit Window"

Step 3:

In excel, insert a new row in the table.  Return to word and the table formatting is broken on the last line of the table.  It is always the last line which has broken formatting irrespective of where the new line is inserted

Note: there is a number of secondary bugs here as well.

1 - When changing the source link on a linked excel in word, if you enter a filename first, after selecting "item", the file name loses its extension.

2 - If you don't use a bookmark but simply reference "Table1" it adds 3 columns and 3 rows to the table which is copied over to word.

3 - If you choose to keep the source formatting and then set the table in word to fit to window, the table loses its fit to window formatting on update, but there is no way in excel to specify fit to window.

Anyway if someone could verify this?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi Stefan,

I can reproduce it in new documents on multiple machines.

Best Regards,

Adam

Answer 2

If the issue can happen even in the new documents, possibilities that the issue is on the app itself. To start troubleshooting, I suggest repairing the Excel application. Refer to this article, make sure to choose the correct Operating System of your PC and follow the steps posted to perform the repair process.

At the bottom of the given article, there's an option to download the easy fix tool. If ever the repair did not work, you may do that as well.

Please respond to this thread to let me know how the issue progresses. Similarly, if you have more questions, please inform me by replying to this post.

Answer 3

Hi,

Aside from being able to reproduce it on 3 different machines running the same current version of Office 365 (1811 - Build 11029.20108).  I can also reproduce the issue on a newly build windows 10 machine with the 1708 semi-annual channel (Build 8431.2153) versions of Word and Excel.

And before you ask, I have also checked it is reproducible with different accounts and with machines both domain joined and standalone.

Adam

Answer 4

No formatting issues observed here (Office 365 ProPlus, version 1811).

Answer 5

That is curious,

Are you linking the excel by row/column references or named table?  Are you setting the table to fit-to-window?

If I link by row/column reference there is no formatting error but neither does it display rows added at the end of the table without extending the reference range.

If I update the source to be the named table then the formatting is broken on update.

Adam