MS Word 2016 Alt-Click on a word to open Research Bug

Anonymous

Alt-Click is not working in Word 2016 but it still works in Outlook 2016 and all the other Office applications with that use the Research pane. It works in my old office 2007-2010 Word. How do I get it back.?

_______________________________

Still no way to fix this bug.

Microsoft broke the feature with their new modern Translator feature and did not give any notice of it or a way to fix it and it still works in all the rest of the Office apps. There are some suggested workarounds for the bug but they don't work on my PC. There is no way I can see to add the Alt+Click shortcut and the Group Policy change did not remove new the modern Translator feature.

___________________________________

Suggested workarounds, maybe someone else can get them to work.

If you still need or rely on the Alt+Click shortcut for Research pane, there are a few possible workarounds:

You can use keyboard customization, to map the alt+click key combination to trigger the ResearchLookup command. File > Options > Customize Ribbon > Customize (keyboard shortcuts) > All commands (categories) > ResearchLookup, and you can add a binding. Here is a help article explaining keyboard customizations
Use Group Policy to switch off the modern Translator feature (back to the older translation feature powered by the Research pane): https://support.office.com/en-us/article/admin-considerations-for-the-modern-translator-feature-in-office-064e938e-0af4-4f35-bd1d-04feb45af9aa

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

50 answers

Anonymous

2018-02-04T17:50:41+00:00

Still not working. It sounded like you were on to something but it still not work. :(

I added the English UK, restarted Word and nothing happened. I then saw that it was not activated. That did get me a message about adding features but it still is not working.

I wish they would have just left it alone or like tested it.

Its so frustrating that:

I can have Outlook 2016 and Word 2016 open along with Word 2010 and the Alt-Click works in Outlook 2016 and Word 2010 but not Word 2016.

This is a remote PC, is a reboot needed?
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2018-02-04T18:35:52+00:00

It's a very odd bug. I wouldn't think modifying a language would make a difference, but that's what worked on my end. As I mentioned before, I tried everything I could think of previously. I even tried using the left and right Alt buttons. It was only when modifying the language settings that it started working. You made sure you exited all other Office apps before you made the change? It could be worth trying again, by removing UK English, and making sure all the apps are closed and verify it in the Task Manager. If one app is running, it could prevent the changes from taking place.

If that doesn't work, then a reboot is definitely worth trying. It's always worth trying. I've lost count of the number of times a simple reboot fixed an issue.
Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2018-02-07T07:55:26+00:00

Hi Tanquen1,

You can share the updates when you have time.

In addition, since it is a remote PC, maybe it has different keyboard mapping to avoid confliction with your system. So please make sure the Alt key works when you use Word. To test this you can try other shortcuts which includes the Alt key. Here is thereference.

Regards,

Jim
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2018-02-07T13:56:32+00:00

Hey Jim, thanks for trying to help but I think if you read the thread above you will agree this doesn't apply.

The fact that Beth has made hers go from not working to working is encouraging but I've been unable to replicate her fix. I've rebooted but I haven't had a chance to try uninstalling the language I just added yet but I'm not confident it's going to change since hers worked right away apparently.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2018-02-08T10:01:47+00:00

Hi Tanquen1,

It's worth trying.

In addition, the latest version is not Version 1801 (Build 9001.2144) and it has improved many features. Would you mind upgrading and try again?

If the issue remains, I'd know if the feature never works in any Word 2016 versions on that machine, so that we can identify if it's not due to Office update.

Moreover, check if the issue only happens within your office, if so, maybe there's local domain settings, Group policy, etc.

Best Regards,

Jim
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments